The Serenity Series: Aftermath
by WeirdWistfulWerewolf
Summary: #1 Aftermath takes place after the crew of Serenity has released the information of the PAX. How will the 'verse change? What will the crew do? How will the crew deal with the deaths of two beloved friends? And most importantly, are they safe? R&R please!
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

A woman stood putting a small gun together while a man hovered over her eagerly. She had a few more parts left and she would be done.

The room they were in was dark and shadowed the woman's face, though she didn't need it. A black scarf was wrapped around her head and neck and black sunglasses covered her face almost completely. She looked dangerous as many people in these parts did, but the man didn't care. These were hard times and he needed business anywhere he could get it, even if that meant having shady strangers like this woman buying from him.

With a few more clicks and snaps the last piece of the gun was put in place. The woman grinned with satisfaction.

"It's a great gun ma'am, one of the best –" the man was saying nervously.

"Bizui. I'll decide that for myself," she interrupted. Her voice was cold and dangerous.

"Yes ma'am, of course," the man said as his voice cracked.

The woman then turned to face a picture of a young man with neat, parted black hair and brilliant blue eyes. Quickly she raised the gun and pulled the trigger making one swift motion. A shot rang out echoing in the empty, rundown house and a hole appeared in the middle of the picture's forehead. The man gulped while a nasty grin spread across the woman's face.

"Sufficient enough ma'am?" he asked wiping sweat from his brow.

"Very," she said. "I'll take it."

"Yes ma'am," said the man hurrying over to the gun. The woman never took her eyes off of the picture.

"You'll pay for Tracey's death," she muttered. "Goodbye Simon Tam."


	2. Chapter 1: To Persephone

**Chapter 1: To Persephone**

Two weeks had now passed since the discovery of the PAX, from the moon Miranda, was released throughout the 'verse. No one knew who released the information and to tell you the truth, no one cared. What mattered now was that the truth was out.

After the airing the whole 'verse was in an uproar except that is the crew who released the secret. Serenity was the only, well, serene place in the 'verse at the moment. Having lost two close friends and one good source of information they had stayed in the comforting boat floating silently through space not finding work and not really trying to, to tell you the truth. The Alliance was furious about not being able to contain the embarrassing secret. But, all the public wanted to know was, "How could this kind of thing happen?" Whispers about the Alliance were spreading from planets to the outskirts of the 'verse.

"If they could keep a secret this huge for the amount of time that they did, what else are they lying about and how many other secrets are waiting to be found? All this and more when we return," said the newswoman as the show disappeared from the small screen on the dash and an Oaty Bar commercial began.

Malcolm Reynolds sat content in the pilot's seat on his boat Serenity. He grinned broadly at the screen and turned it off.

"The truth is finally out," said River Tam solemnly sitting beside the captain in the co-pilots seat.

"That it is darlin'," Mal said.

"About damn time too," chimed in Jayne Cobb.

"What can I do you for Jayne?" asked Mal turning to look at the big silhouette standing in the doorway.

Jayne Cobb was a simple man with a simple mind. Literally a very simple mind. Wearing an olive green T-shirt with the logo Blue Sun, tan cargo pants and thick tan combat boots he certainly looked like the role he was hired for – a thug.

He stood six feet four inches tall and had the build of a Greek God, or so the ladies liked to put it. He could constantly be seen working out in the cargo bay lifting weights with a gun at his side. His muscles were easily seen, and swooned over, even when he wore slightly baggy clothes. Together with his beautiful blue eyes and dark brown hair many women found him irresistible. Until he opened his mouth that is. He'll be the first to tell you he ain't no genius.

"We almost there?" asked Jayne irritably.

"Gettin' antsy are we?" asked Mal amused.

"There ain't no ants here," replied Jayne. River burst into giggles.

"What?" said Jayne.

"How did I know that one was coming?" said Mal shaking his head.

"You ain't turning psycho on us too are ya Mal?" asked Jayne uncomfortably.

"I believe the term is _psychic_," put in River, still giggling.

"I said it like I meant it girl," growled Jayne.

"Jayne. Either tell me what you want or go back to your bunk and polish ol' Vera," said Mal growing impatient.

"We've been on this boat for two straight weeks," said Jayne.

"We've stayed on longer," replied Mal.

"Yeah but... the mood here. All sad and depressed like. I-," began Jayne then stopped suddenly.

"Yeah?" said Mal as River leaned in closer to make sure she didn't miss Jayne's next words.

"Imiswashoo," mumbled Jayne as his face turned scarlet red.

"I'm sorry, I didn't catch that," smiled Mal. "Mind repeating?"

"I said I miss Wash too!" yelled Jayne. River smiled at him. "But it's not healthy to be on a boat full of sad people for too long. I need to step out." The red slowly faded from his face. "Stretch my legs and such. A man has needs you know."

"You don't say," said Mal amused and slightly disturbed.

"We'll be there soon," said River turning back to look at the empty, black space before them.

"Good then. I'll... be in my bunk. Polishin' my guns and such," said Jayne. "If you need me that is. I'll be there."

"Good to know," smiled Mal watching Jayne make a quick exit from the room.

"Wonder what a man's needs are," said Mal sarcastically.

"Money and women," replied River matter of factly.

"I'd never of guessed," laughed Mal. River turned to him and smiled.

River Tam was a beautiful young woman. Her long, straight black hair flowed down past her shoulders ending at her lower back. It blended in nicely with her milky white complexion and large brown eyes, the most expressive feature on her. She stood five foot seven inches tall and had a slender build, but don't let that fool ya. She could take a man and his army out with the blink of an eye though she'd prefer not to.

She was eighteen years old celebrating her birthday just last week, though there wasn't much to celebrate. Not after what the crew had gone through. But they made the best of it and River had a decent birthday. At least she could remember this one... her last birthday's for the past few years were spent drugged and barely conscious, but she didn't like to think about such times.

It had been much better for River these past two weeks. Her mind had stopped working so much as a weapon and more like a girl. It upset her a bit. Now don't misunderstand, she was happy about it but she was so used to thinking what she had thought were crazy thoughts and not like a normal girl that she didn't quite know how to react to it. "You'll get used to it meimei," she remembered her brother, Simon, telling her. "When?" she had asked. "Soon," he had said. And River was content with that.

River Tam had been the Alliances' project and was hunted by them not too long ago. They had reprogrammed her brain in a sense so that she was no longer a regular fourteen-year-old girl, but a weapon for the Alliance. Well, not a weapon - the weapon. Sending a secret message through a letter to her brother, Simon had figured out there was something wrong and he had saved her. River smiled as the image of her brother waking her from that horrible nightmare flooded through her. However, now that the Alliance no longer needed her (though that wasn't to say they wouldn't still come after her and the crew), she was blossoming into the young woman she was always meant to be. She became more social with the crew and, with the exception of Jayne, was able to convince them of her sane state. She had also become co-pilot of Serenity and although it came a bit harder than breathing to her, she was quickly picking up on it.

"We're coming up on Persephone," said River.

Mal pushed a button, which turned red, and began to speak to the crew through the COM system. "We're comin' up on Persephone. Have a seat somewhere and hold on tight if you don't fancy rollin' around on the floor."

And that's exactly the kind of person that Malcolm Reynolds is, straight and to the point. There was no in the middle with Mal. He liked things blunt and simple and that was it. Malcolm Reynolds is the fine captain of this here boat they call Serenity. Getting the job done was a very important aspect of Mal's life and having a good crew helped. His crew meant more to him then he would admit. That, Mal could count on, which meant a lot to the captain as he could count on precious little in his life.

Strands of his brown hair fell over his light blue eyes and he brushed them aside. He stood six feet two inches tall and towered over most people. He wore a long brown coat almost all the time, which was frayed at the edges where his hands came out. He tended to rub the edges of the coat with his fingers when he was nervous and that happened quite a lot with Mal, so you'll have to forgive him for that. Mal wasn't an easy man to get along with, losing most of his faith when the Independence lost the war against the Alliance, but he was an honest and fair man which is the greatest compliment a man could ever hope to hear in his lifetime. And Mal was no different.

Serenity began to shake as she entered the atmo of Persephone. River and Mal were strapped tightly into their pilots' seats but they still shook violently as Serenity began entering the world.

"Hold 'er steady," said Mal.

"You too captain," said River grinning at him.

As they descended closer and closer to the surface the shaking began to lessen and then ceased completely.

"There's a landing spot," said Mal pointing to a clear landing pad.

"I see it," said River directing Serenity in the clear space's path. A few seconds later they were hovering over the empty pad above the Eavesdown Docks.

"Now slowly take her down, nice and gentle like," said Mal calmly.

River pushed down on the steering, a little too hard, and Serenity jerked down quickly, landing roughly on the ground.

"I said gentle like!" yelled Mal, clearly upset. And who could blame him? Serenity surely did not need any more damage then she already had. She had recently taken to losing bits and pieces of herself.

"Oops," said River taking her hands off the steering.

"Oops?" said Mal, anger filling his voice. His eyes were about ready to pop from his head.

River turned to look at Mal. The color had drained from her face making her skin paler than usual and more fragile looking.

"You... did a fine job River," said Mal holding back his anger. "Just take it easier next time. Flyin' ain't easy," he added.

River nodded and stepped out of her seat.

"What in the gorram hell do you think you're doing crazy girl?" growled Jayne stepping into the cockpit. He had a small trickle of blood running down his forehead where he had bumped it during the rough landing.

"Step outside Jayne. She did a fine job," said Mal.

"A fine job?" said Jayne his temper rising. "She almost killed me!"

_Great_. He was being over dramatic as usual. But Mal ignored this and gave Jayne his winning smile.

"You look mighty fine and healthy to me," said Mal patting River on the back. She looked up at him and smiled her appreciation. "Not to mention very much alive. If not, I've never heard a corpse talk this much."

"Or think this dirty," said River breaking out into a mischievous grin.

"Hey, you get outta my head girl!" said Jayne putting both his arms over his head, as if shielding it from River's brain waves.

"She'll stay out," said Mal looking sternly down at River and trying not to laugh at how ridiculous Jayne looked. Not that that was anything new.

"Promise," said River followed by a disappointed sigh.

"Come now Jayne, we've landed after these long two weeks and if I remember correctly it was you who was most eager to get off," said Mal stepping in front of Jayne.

"Yeah," growled Jayne, slowly lowering his arms and eyeing River at the same time.

"First though, I'd go see the doc if I were you," said Mal pointing to Jayne's forehead and wincing at the blood.

Jayne reached up feeling his forehead and wiped the blood away with the back of his hand.

"It ain't nothin' but a scratch," said Jayne wiping the blood on his pants. River smiled. "I'll be fine," he mumbled climbing out of the cockpit with Mal and River following behind.

They walked down the metal corridor, through the dining room and down a set of stairs until they ended up in the cargo bay. The rest of the crew all seemed to be uninjured and relatively unshaken. When Jayne and the others walked into the room Simon looked up to see blood smudged on Jayne's forehead. He broke into a wide smile and put his head down, silently shaking with laughter. Jayne growled in frustration and turned to stand with the rest of the crew looking intently at the floor. Try as he might to not let Simon damage his calm, a vein in Jayne's forehead was starting to pulse with rage.

"Are you okay?" whispered Kaylee to Jayne, concern evident in her gentle voice.

"Yeah, yeah," said Jayne irritated. "Taint nothin' serious."

"It's just a scratch," smiled River.

Jayne growled under his breath but never lifted his head up.

"That was a very nice landing River," said Simon, finally able to pull himself together.

"Oh yeah, a very nice landing," said Kaylee smiling broadly at River though it was plain to see she was uncertain about her statement.

Zoe turned and smiled at River but said nothing.

Zoe Washburne was a beautiful and powerful woman; one might even say Amazonian like. She stood five feet nine inches tall and was a commanding figure among all people present at all times. She had a milky chocolate mix to her skin tone, with gorgeous black curls falling neatly down her back. Her hair was almost always tied in a ponytail. Her dark eyes, which used to be so happy and full of life, were now dead and empty. She was missing something that would never come back in her life.

Zoe had been very quiet since Wash died, often spending most of her free time alone in her bunk. She occasionally came out to sit with the crew but mostly added nothing to the conversation with her eyes drifting off into space, thinking of other things, clearly in another world.

Kaylee turned and looked sadly at Zoe. She wished she could do something to help Zoe with her pain, but she knew better than that. Even the doctor couldn't cure Zoe of a broken heart. They all missed Wash dearly but Zoe was a walking corpse without him and the crew rarely even saw her save for meals and missions. But she knew this would pass; however much it hurt. Everyone would eventually move on and be able to talk happily about Wash without crying every time someone mentioned his name.

Ah! But that was Kaylee - an eternal optimist. There was nothing that could bring Kaylee's spirits down, not even a bullet. That's what's so special about her and why everybody she surrounds herself with can't help but love and adore her. She has a smile that'll light up a room twice over. And with those gorgeous sky blue eyes, it's a wonder if any man would pass her by without staring just a little.

Kaylee has often been described as a short, spunky soul by friends, standing only five feet four inches tall, but she's also tough. Being the ship's mechanic she's easily one of the smartest people on board. She had to be to figure out how all them gadgets work and to keep them in working order, which is hard for any mechanic to do, but especially this mechanic on Serenity, and especially on this boat! Fine as Serenity is there's always a few kinks to work out with her but with Kaylee as her mechanic the crew knew that all would be well and they would stay up in the sky safe as can be. Or as safe as they could hope to be.

"Okay, Jayne and Zoe - you two are with me. Kaylee, you know the drill. Try to look as cute as a button while selling this boat as a good ride," said Mal.

"You got it cap'n," smiled Kaylee.

"Simon and River. You two, well, I don't much care what you do as long as you stay outta trouble," said Mal.

"What kind of trouble could we get in?" asked River innocently.

"A lot for a little girl," said Mal sternly. "Right then, let's go."

As they all began to go their separate ways Mal took a quick glance around and noticed who was missing.

"Where's Inara?" asked Mal trying not to sound too curious.

"Oh, she took off as soon as we landed," said Simon turning back to answer Mal. "She said something about being late for a client."

"Right," said Mal. "Wouldn't want to keep the clients waiting," he said sarcastically motioning with his arm for Zoe and Jayne to follow.

Despite Mal's sarcasm on the subject he did care for Inara.

Inara Serra, a companion, was a beautiful and exotic looking woman with a very refined and calm personality. She was tough when she needed to be but tried to keep her composure most of the time. That was what being a companion was about. Well, some of it anyway.

Inara had a unique beauty to her, with luscious ebony curls falling down her back and rich chocolate eyes; it was no wonder she made a great companion. Any man, or woman for that matter, would have a hard time not falling in love with her at first gawking stare.

She stood five feet seven inches tall and had a wonderful brown tan to her skin. She was always seen in luscious garments of red, gold, blue and purple silk and never seen without her romantic red lipstick on. It made her lips irresistible and made men desire her even more, craving just one kiss from this exotic beauty.

Inara got along with everyone on board, but she and Mal had a special kind of relationship. They secretly longed to be with each other but pride often got in the way of anything happening with that. Neither would tell the other how they felt and it was very frustrating for the other crewmembers to watch them go back and forth. Only recently had they made any type of progress with their relationship, Mal vowing to himself that he wouldn't let Inara go again. He had insisted that she stay on the boat, her home. Elated at the boldness of the captain Inara did stay and took her shuttle back immediately collecting her things from the companion training house she had been living at for the past few months. However, she also took her profession back up to Mal's disappointment and anger and he quickly stepped right back into the mold they had been in before she left; he insulting her profession and she making witty remarks back to him about his dubious line of work. The crew thought it all feihua but they didn't say anything, at least not to Mal and Inara's face...

As Mal and the others left to get another rough and tumble job, Kaylee turned to Simon and River.

"So, you wanna help me find some passengers for the ship?" she smiled.

"River?" asked Simon.

"It's acceptable," said River walking slowly around in a circle while looking intently at a beetle on the ground. Well... she's still got to work on some things to be considered completely normal.

"Okay..." said Kaylee uncertainly.

"That means yes," smiled Simon.

"Oh, great!" said Kaylee breaking into her infectious smile.

Simon smiled lovingly back at Kaylee, brushing her cheek with his thumb. Kaylee laughed as he leaned in to kiss her.

"As long as you don't do that the whole time," said River staring appalled at them.

River hadn't minded at first, even studying them in action though it sounded a bit weird but that's what River did, studied constantly. However, after two weeks on Serenity of Simon and Kaylee doing nothing _but_ that, well let's just say that River was bored and began to become his bratty kid sister again.

Simon sighed and pulled away while Kaylee continued to smile.

"Sorry River," said Kaylee.

"It's okay," said River staring intently at the same beetle on the floor again.

"I'll go get us some seats," said Simon walking towards an opening of the cargo bay that led to the dining room.

"Okay," said Kaylee happily.

As Simon was walking away Kaylee tilted her head slightly to get a good look at his butt.

"God he's got a nice as-" Kaylee was muttering when River walked up behind her, interrupting her train of thought.

"Naughty, naughty Kaylee," laughed River.

Kaylee blushed. "You'll understand when ya get a boy of your own River."

"I already understand," said River.

"Course you do," said Kaylee patting River gently on the back. She smiled at River warmly as they began to walk toward the opening of the boat. These two had automatically gotten along ever since the Tam's boarded the ship and now they were just as close as ever.

"Got them," said Simon triumphantly carrying three chairs towards them, very awkwardly I might add. Kaylee smiled as she watched her boyfriend struggle to carry the chairs to them.

Simon Tam was Serenity's resident doctor, which the crew always seemed to be needing for some reason or another. Whether it be bar fights with the locals or gun shot wounds from so called "business men" who surprisingly enough almost always ended up trying to kill the whole crew. He was also River's brother. It was evident that Simon loved his sister very much. He was the only one who tried to rescue her from the Alliance and ended up becoming a wanted fugitive soon after. He had risked his life to save her's and would as easily kill anyone who laid a hand on River than heal someone in need.

He stood five feet eight inches tall and had short black hair, which he parted right down the middle, and very brilliant blue eyes. This was the only feature they did not share. They looked so much alike it was uncanny sometimes. They even seemed to have the same personality on some days, the non-crazy ones of course.

"Ready to start?" asked Simon.

"Dang ran," replied Kaylee as they began to set up their seats. This was going to be a long day.

--

Mal, Zoe and Jayne were sitting in a local bar waiting to meet their new pilot.

"He's late," said Jayne taking another sip of beer.

"Great perceptive skills," said Mal looking intently at the door.

"Well just 'cause you stare at the doors don't mean he'll get here faster," said Jayne agitated.

"Neither does complaining," replied Mal keeping his gaze on the doors.

Jayne sighed and leaned back in his chair.

The song that was playing ended abruptly with a few claps from the crowd and a new song almost immediately began. A man with a husky voice began to pluck and then play his guitar and the tune caught Mal's attention. He listened subconsciously, never taking his eyes from the bar door, as the man on stage strummed his guitar and began to sing these words:

Take my love,

Take my land,

Take me where I cannot stand.

I don't care,

I'm still free,  
You can't take the sky from me.

Take me out,

To the black,

Tell 'em I ain't comin' back.

Burn the land and boil the sea,

You can't take the sky from me.

At this point a small guitar solo began. The bar was so quiet you could literally hear a pin drop, that is of course were the guitar not playing.

There's no place,

I can be,

Since I found Serenity,

But you can't take the sky from me.

The man finished the song with a few more strums from his guitar. On the last note, silence ensued and then one great drunken cheer of appreciation came from the people in the bar.

"Huh," said Mal. "Catchy tune."

"I dunno, it sounded kinda old fashioned," said Jayne.

"You haven't liked a song since you heard that mudders song they dedicated to you," said Mal.

"Hey, that song was beautiful," said Jayne taking another sip of his beer.

Mal looked curiously at him, one eyebrow raised then he went back to staring at the front doors to the bar, humming the tune to the song that had just ended. Ten minutes passed with no sign of the pilot to be found.

"Gou huang tang!" cried Jayne banging his fists on the round wooden table. "I'm leavin' this ruttin' place," he said standing up.

"Not without your pilot I hope?" said a voice behind them.

All three turned their heads to see a handsome man of about five feet ten inches standing behind them. His dirty blonde hair needed a trim as it was currently falling over his dark green eyes. He raised his tan arm and brushed the hair back automatically but it was no use as his bangs just fell back in the same spot. He sighed and gave up the losing battle.

He was wearing simple worker's clothes, tan and brown in color. They were faded in places indicating he had these garments for a long time and his shirt and pants were covered in a thin layer of dirt. His off-white shirt was rolled up at the sleeves and his fingernails had dirt underneath. Mal found himself wondering what this man did before he came here.

"Names Brian Wynd," he said cheerfully holding out his hand to shake. He had an arrogant smile and the whitest teeth Mal ever remembered seeing. "But most people call me Wynd."

"Malcolm Reynolds," said Mal taking Wynd's hand. "This is Zoe my first mate and Jayne my weapons expert and local Serenity thug," said Mal pointing to each of his crew as he introduced them. "But mostly just the latter."

Jayne mumbled something under his breath that mostly sounded like a bear's growl and sat down.

"Well, nice to meet y'all," laughed Wynd.

"Likewise," said Zoe smiling.

"Yeah," muttered Jayne under his breath.

"You'll have to forgive him," said Mal. "He's been trapped in my boat for two straight weeks."

"Ain't good for a man with needs," growled Jayne. He looked up and caught the eye of the waitress standing across the room. A sly grin spread across his face and he winked at her. The woman blushed and scuttled off behind the bar.

"So," began Wynd. "Serenity needs a pilot."

"Yes," said Mal.

"What happened to the last one?" asked Wynd. He sounded concerned but only for his own safety as the new pilot.

"He-," began Mal quickly stealing a glance at Zoe to see her reaction. But of course she was as unemotional as she had been after the first few minutes of Wash's death. "Do the job," as she said.

"He died," said Zoe looking Wynd straight in the eye. "Reavers."

"Ouch," said Wynd wincing at the sound of the name.

Mal didn't know whether or not Brian Wynd thought reavers existed. He didn't much care what this cocky bastard thought about anything, much less the existence of reavers, but it caught Mal's curiosity that he didn't question them about their story. He must have experienced these horrible creatures sometime during his young life and that intrigued Mal...

"Yeah," said Mal. "And you're supposed to be the best pilot in this galaxy or so I'm told by my contacts."

"I am the best," said Wynd. "Your contacts are right," he added.

"I can see you're a modest man," said Mal sarcastically.

"Enough with the chummy chit-chat," snapped Wynd a bit impatiently.

Jayne stopped blowing kisses to the waitress and turned to look at Wynd in surprise.

"Okay," said Mal disliking this guy with every passing minute.

"You're in need of a pilot and I am one," said Wynd. "What's my pay and sleeping arrangements? And am I most likely to kick it like your last pilot?"

"You'll get an even share of the profits that we make from our respectable business dealings. That's roughly twelve percent of the loot money each. Got a big crew and a boat that's fallin' apart by the minute so if you have a problem with the money don't tell me, I don't wanna hear it. You'll find it's a decent wage now a days for honest hard working folk. You get your own bunk with three meals a day, and the likeliness of you dying in one of our missions-," said Mal thinking. "What would you say Zoe?"

"I'd say your odds are nine out of ten," said Zoe with a small somewhat comforting grin. Wynd let out a relieved sigh.

"That you're dead," she finished with a wink.

"That much huh?" said Wynd looking a little sick.

Mal leaned over to Zoe and whispered, "Ah that never gets old." Zoe broke into a wide smile.

Wynd thought for a moment then said, "I'll take the job."

"You're a brave man Wynd. Risking your life to pilot my little ol' boat," said Mal straightening up in his chair.

"I need the money," said Wynd.

"A very noble cause," said Mal smiling at him. "Welcome on board. Your job starts now so go back to the boat, she's in landing pad ninety-one. Kaylee will help you settle in. We leave in an hour, no less or more, exactly one hour so be ready to take off then. One thing you'll learn real quick, I'm not a patient man and I don't wait for nobody, dong ma?" finished Mal.

"Got it," said Wynd standing up.

He went to shake the others hands. When he came to Jayne, Jayne shook his hand roughly and said, "Welcome on board Serenity."

"Let's go Jayne," said Mal walking away with Zoe at his side while Jayne and Wynd were still talking intently.

"I don't like him sir," said Zoe.

"I don't either, but we need a pilot and he's the best of the best. I can't say no to that," replied Mal.

"No sir. Wouldn't expect you to sir," said Zoe as Jayne ran up behind them.

"I love that guy!" he said cheerfully.

Zoe and Mal stole dubious glances at each other, disbelief written on their faces. They walked out of the bar with Jayne smiling stupidly behind them.

--

Kaylee burst into laughter as Simon told her all the crazy things that he and River had done as children for amusement.

"Well, Simon Tam. I never knew you to be a prankster. How am I to know that my toothpaste is untampered with, hmm?" she laughed.

"Because the last prank he pulled was when he was eleven," laughed River.

"That's true," said Simon.

"Always was a serious like kid," said River.

Simon smiled lovingly at her.

"Well, that's good to know," laughed Kaylee.

"Excuse me miss, is this here firefly taking passengers?" asked a woman standing before them.

She stood about five feet five inches tall and was wearing a heavy black trench coat that was buttoned from top to bottom. On her feet she wore black combat boots and on her head was a thick hand knitted black scarf that covered both her neck and head. On her face was a pair of large black sunglasses that when worn closely resembled bug eyes.

"Yes we are," said Kaylee standing up. "If you're lookin' for an interesting ride ain't nothin' better than this here firefly."

"She looks like a sturdy ship," commented the woman.

"That she is," smiled Kaylee. "Couldn't find a better ship in the 'verse, I can guarantee that."

"Guarantee me can you?" the woman grinned.

Kaylee smiled back.

Simon stood up abruptly, a nervous glance spreading across his face as he took in the woman's appearance. River on the other hand immediately seemed very interested in this lady and walked a bit closer. Simon grabbed her arm and shook his head slightly. River stuck her tongue out at him.

"And her name?" asked the woman not noticing the siblings off to the side.

"Serenity," said Kaylee.

The woman smiled. "Exactly the thing I was looking for."

"Well that's just shiny!" beamed Kaylee. "We're willin' to take in anyone who's looking for a sturdy ride - and who can pay of course," she said. "You can pay can't you?"

"Oh yes, that won't be a problem I assure you," said the woman.

"Great," smiled Kaylee. "I'm Kaylee, Serenity's mechanic," she said holding out her hand.

The woman shook it while saying, "Pleased to meet you. I'm Sally Fischer."

"And you too," smiled Kaylee. She turned to the side where Simon still held River by the arm and they were arguing soundlessly forming words with their mouth, cussing each other out in Chinese.

"Ehem," coughed Kaylee clearing her throat. They stopped fighting to look at Kaylee and Sally who were staring at them. Sally Fischer had an amused grin on her face.

"This is Serenity's doctor Simon Tam, and her co-pilot River Tam," said Kaylee pointing to each.

"Nice to meet the both of you," smiled Sally holding her hand out to shake each of theirs. Her eyes lingered on Simon, or at least he thought they did, he couldn't tell with those dark sunglasses on, then she turned and smiled to River.

Simon hesitated a bit, then took her hand while River shook the woman's hand vigorously. Sally laughed.

"Well, here's my luggage. I would take it in myself but I have some... business to attend to," said Sally handing Kaylee her bag.

"This all?" asked Kaylee.

"Yes," replied Sally.

"And the money?" she asked.

"Will be in your captains hands before you take off," assured Sally.

Kaylee smiled. "She takes off in half an hour and I'm afraid the cap'n ain't a patient man..." said Kaylee trailing off.

"So don't drag my ass too long huh?" laughed Sally patting Kaylee on the shoulder. "Don't worry, I'll be back in plenty of time."

Sally turned and walked off disappearing into the busy crowd.

"Well she was nice," smiled Kaylee turning to look at Simon.

"Nice? Did you see the way she was dressed? She looked like an assassin or bounty hunter. There's no telling what kind of weapons her... outfit was hiding," said Simon nervously.

"Oh Simon. That's silly! You can't believe that," said Kaylee dismissively.

"I don't trust her," said Simon looking Kaylee in the eyes.

"She's alright," replied River. Both Kaylee and Simon looked at her.

"I'll bring her bag in," said River taking the bag and slinging it across her shoulder.

She slowly walked back into the ship holding the beetle she was staring out earlier in her hand and whispered to herself, "Welcome to Serenity Savvy Sally."

--

Mal, Zoe and Jayne were walking around Persephone's streets. They were trying to find a specific warehouse where they were supposed to get their next job. All that the new client's assistant had told them so far is that the job paid well. He informed them that his boss was willing to pay a tidy sum for whatever he wanted them to get. And that was good, as Mal was willing to take any job at this point, even one that didn't pay very well. So this job was like a blessing to him. Not that he believed in blessings or luck, but something was finally going right for them and he wasn't about to ignore it. They had been sitting ducks, hiding in their boat for two weeks straight, using up the fuel and food on the ship and they desperately needed the money. Plus all of their clientele was either dead or too scared to take on Mal and his crew again, which was understandable as they were almost killed by that crazy operative.

"I believed in something preacher man," thought Mal annoyed. "And now Serenity has a black mark because of it."

"Where is this gorram place?" asked Jayne irritably.

"Somewhere around here," said Mal looking at the address that had been given to them. "I think we're getting closer," he added looking around the streets as if he expected a huge warehouse to just pop up right in front of them.

"Sir," said Zoe.

"Yes Zoe?" said Mal turning his head in all directions to get a good look at the buildings on either side of them, none of which looked remotely familiar or like a deserted warehouse.

"We just walked in a circle," said Zoe sighing.

"Gorram it Mal," said Jayne with a punch to the air.

"We did?" asked Mal looking up at Zoe.

"Yes sir," replied Zoe.

"Huh," said Mal scratching his head.

"Here, give me that ruttin' paper," said Jayne violently grabbing the paper from Mal's hand.

"And how do you expect to find this place Jayne? Starin' daggers at that piece of paper in your hand won't intimidate it and make it tell you what direction to take, although you might make it cry," said Mal sarcastically.

"No Mal," said Jayne angrily. "And if I could stare daggers you'd already be dead," he added.

"Great, this is just great!" shouted Mal frustrated.

"Such is our luck sir," said Zoe.

"Excuse me ma'am," they heard Jayne say behind them.

Both Zoe and Mal turned around to see Jayne standing next to an old woman. They watched in amazement to see Jayne actually being - well, polite.

"Yes young man?" said the old woman turning to Jayne.

"I was wondering if you know in what direction this here address would take us," said Jayne holding out the paper for the old woman to read it.

"Bayu Street. Let me see... mind ain't what it used to be. Ah yes! I remember now. Bayu Street would be to the right of this one. Walk all the way down this street and there should be a sign to indicate the beginning of Bayu Street to the right. Haven't been there in years myself. A shady place it's turned into this past decade or so," smiled the old woman, gently patting him on the back.

"Thank you kindly ma'am," said Jayne smiling at her and nodded his head to show his appreciation.

"Anytime, anytime," said the old woman walking off. As she was trotting by at a surprisingly fast pace they heard her mutter, "Such a nice young man. Maybe there is hope for the youth on Persephone after all."

Jayne walked back to Mal and Zoe who just stood there staring at him.

"What?" said Jayne grinning smugly, sure he was about to be praised.

"You... you yuben de!" whispered Mal loudly.

"What?" said Jayne confused.

"You just showed that old woman where we're heading!" whispered Mal angrily.

"So?" said Jayne.

That stupid confused look was still spread across his face. You'd think Mal would have gotten used to it by now but it still amazed him how Jayne even remembered to breathe daily.

"So? So she might go and mention it to some other folks, maybe even the Alliance, who's always seemin' to be in my business," said Mal, frustration evident in his face. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "You heard what she said. This warehouse is a shady place. She might think we're up to no good."

"We are up to no good," said Zoe.

"Don't remind me," said Mal sighing.

"It's just a local ol' lady Mal. Taint do no harm," said Jayne.

"You best hope your right. 'Cause if your not I just might cut your tongue outta that big mouth of yours," said Mal angrily.

Jayne looked back at Mal with an equally ugly glance.

"Come on you two or we're gonna be late," said Zoe snapping them out of their trance.

Jayne was the first to break eye contact and quickly walked ahead of them, silently cursing Mal in Chinese. Zoe began to follow him and glanced back to see if Mal was following behind her. He wasn't.

"Comin' sir?" asked Zoe.

"Yeah," said Mal staring at the back of Jayne's head.

He caught up with Zoe and continued to walk down the street. Jayne was waiting at the right hand corner under a holographic sign that said Bayu Street. No one talked, they just turned right and continued walking. When they were finally at the end of Bayu Street, which turned out to be a dead end, there was a huge abandoned warehouse standing right in front of them. The paint was chipping from the neutral shade of the metal walls and there was dead, brown weeds poking up through the concrete ground. The warehouse itself was a dark gray shade and the windows were all boarded up. Needless to say it gave them the creeps.

"This must be the place," said Zoe.

"Yeah," replied Mal. "Let's go in."

But no one moved. They were all nervous about the look of the place, though they would never admit it. Too brave they would have thought but everyone else would have said too proud.

"Ladies first," said Jayne grinning at Zoe and stepping behind her.

"I'm stuck with a buncha chickens," muttered Zoe giving a look that made them almost feel ashamed they made a woman go in ahead of them. Almost. She lingered a bit for her look to take proper effect and then walked into the warehouse.

Mal glanced at Jayne, each was wearing a "this isn't what I signed on for" glance, and quickly followed Zoe into the warehouse thinking it better to get it over with fast like and not linger around here too much longer. Jayne wasn't far behind. He looked at the warehouse nervously while taking a step inside.

When they walked into the huge room that made up the building, it was pitch black and they couldn't see a thing. Even though it was still daylight outside, the windows were boarded up so that not one crack of light could come through. Then the only source of light, the open door, slammed shut behind them. They all jumped from the loud bang it made echoing in the huge empty building.

Jayne blundered in blindly sticking his muscular arms out in front of him. He tried to feel around in the dark to feel for a wall or a person. Anything at all would have done.

"Gorram it. Where is everyone?" growled Jayne very frustrated.

"Over here," said Zoe. Her voice was very calm like as usual. That only frustrated Jayne even more.

He walked in the direction of her voice or as near to it as he could figure. Jayne blindly stuck his hands out grabbing only air at first but then he grabbed something tight and round. He grinned to himself.

"Found you Zoe," he said patting the person he had found on the behind.

"Actually that's my butt you just patted," said Mal. "I'd appreciate it very much if you kept your hands to yourself."

Jayne's grin quickly faded from his face as he turned a scarlet red.

"I'd never thought I'd have to enforce that sort of rule but I'm proven wrong yet again," said Mal grinning to himself.

"You're a sexy beast sir," said Zoe.

"Well if we're gonna be groping each other from now on I want payment. I'm not just a cheap whore off of the streets," said Mal utterly enjoying Jayne's total and humiliating embarrassment. Though Mal couldn't see him he could just picture Jayne's face right now and he was tickled pink by the whole situation, no longer afraid – I mean _dubious_ about the situation.

Jayne turned a deeper scarlet. "I didn't mean ta," he muttered faintly.

"Well I can see you've all made it here," said a man's voice off to the left of where they were standing. They quickly turned as the sound of a match being lit entered their ears and a light shown out through the darkness illuminating a desk. There were four candles placed on top. Several plastic chairs were sitting in front of the wooden desk.

"Yes," replied Mal to the man.

"Malcolm Reynolds I presume?" asked the man lighting the remaining three candles. It became bright enough to see where to walk but they could not see the man's face, which was hidden in the only shadow surrounding the desk.

"You presume right," said Mal.

"Please, won't you and your crew have a seat?" asked the man politely.

Mal moved forward, taking a seat right in front of the man as Zoe and Jayne followed Mal's example sitting on either side of him.

"Now, shall we begin?" asked the man coming out of the shadows and into the light.

He walked over to sit in the chair behind the desk. He was a short man, maybe five feet two inches tall and he wasn't no youngin'. He looked to be about seventy years old. He had a full head of gray hair and worry lines, also known as wrinkles to some, on his forehead and surrounding his thin mouth. His eyes were the color of periwinkle but they were very cold and lonely eyes. They weren't very expressive, in fact every feature on him and every move he made were as unexpressive and cold as his eyes.

"Let's begin," said the older man.

The man sitting across from Mal smiled chilling the hearts of the crewmembers. They were all thinking the same thing that they would rather be anywhere but here with this creepy old man staring at them. The man must have sensed this because he seemed very pleased about the mood he was creating.

"My assistant has already given you the details about being paid?" asked the man.

"Yes mister..." began Mal.

"My name doesn't matter," he said.

"Mystery man it is then," said Mal.

The old man just smiled.

"Well, let me remind you of the payment," added the man, pulling out a small cotton bag and jingled it. "Here's the half I give you in good faith that you will return to me with what I need," he said handing the bag to Mal.

"It'll be no problem," said Mal to the man.

"Good," said the man leaning back in his chair. "I'm going to make this as brief and to the point as I can, though the job might get a little complicated along the way," he said. "There was a shipment of mine that was supposed to be here a week ago. It never showed up. It is very important to me that I get this shipment as soon as possible. My research depends upon it. Now here is a scheduled flight plan that the ship was following that day," he said handing the computer pad to Mal. "What I want you to do is follow that flight plan, find the ship, and go to this room where my shipment was placed," he said pointing to a room on the computer monitor, showing the blueprint, to the very end of the ship. He took the computer pad away and handed Mal some very tattered, paper blueprints. Mal grinned. "Find crate number twenty three, there should be a paper next to it that tells you, and when you find that crate, handle it very carefully. I do _not_ want damaged goods," he added. "Dong le ma?" he asked condescendingly.

"Loud and clear," said Mal.

"Good. I've had very good reviews of your work from important people. From what I'm told you get the job done and you do that well," he said eyeing Mal.

"Most missions get on well enough," said Mal.

"This one has to," said the man coldly.

"I'll get it done," assured Mal.

"Good," said the man.

There was a brief pause of silence with the crew looking at the old man awkwardly.

"Well," said the man standing up.

Mal and the others also stood up.

"Nice doin' business with you mystery man," said Mal holding out his hand.

"Likewise Mr. Reynolds," said the man. He did not take Mal's hand.

"Now that's awkward like," muttered Jayne under his breath.

"Well," began Mal putting his hand down. In the other he was holding the bag of money and the blueprints. "We should be gettin' on. Still got a busy time ahead of us," he finished.

"I trust you can find your own way out?" said the mystery man with a cold smirk on his face.

"Yeah," said Mal keeping his composure.

He turned around and quickly started to walk towards the door, which was now open again. Daylight flooded into the room lighting their path out of the dark and abandoned building and away from their _very _creepy employer. Zoe and Jayne had immediately followed the captain when he started in the direction of the door. It seemed like it took minutes to reach that damn door. The atmosphere in the warehouse was cold making the Serenity crew uptight, although their client seemed not to be bothered at all by this.

When they finally reached the door and stepped outside Mal turned to look back in while Zoe and Jayne walked past him. They quickly stopped and saw their captain looking into the warehouse. They slowly creeped up, landing behind Mal and peeked inside, looking over his shoulder. The mystery man was looking straight at them. A grin spread on his face and he waved at them with one hand. He then took a deep breath and blew the candles out. The inside of the warehouse went pitch black and the door suddenly closed with a loud bang in each of the crew's faces. They all let a small yelp of surprise escape their proud lips. Even the tough and muscular Jayne got scared - scared enough to run back a few feet while he lost his footing and tripped over a small rock, landing on his back sprawled out on the ground.

"Yi da tuo da bian," said Mal getting his composure back.

"Gorram magician man," growled Jayne pushing himself off the ground. "Just as moon-brained as River 'cept worse in a cripified way," he said roughly brushing the dirt from his shirt and pants.

Mal and Zoe walked up to Jayne.

"Well, if that wasn't a scene right outta a horror movie," said Mal shivering a bit.

"It was very creepy sir," said Zoe. "I agree with Jayne."

"You do?" said Jayne surprised.

"Well that's a first," said Mal.

Jayne just continued to brush the dirt from his pants, taking no notice of the captain's words.

"Sir, we should've been back at the boat ten minutes ago," said Zoe realizing the time.

"Well let's get going then," said Mal. "Can't be late, or wait, I can. I'm the captain," Mal grinned.

"Yes sir," said Zoe beginning to quickly walk down the street with Jayne following closely behind. They were relieved to be walking away from the warehouse and couldn't wait to get out of sight of the building.

Mal took one last look behind him and saw the creepy gray building staring accusingly at him. "I must be crazy," said Mal turning back and hurrying to catch up with Zoe and Jayne.

--

Kaylee, Simon and River had already brought their chairs back to the dining room and were standing at the edge of the ship talking when a man walked up to them. He took one look at Kaylee and River and grinned broadly. You can guess what was going on in his head.

"What can I do for you?" asked Kaylee grinning back at him.

"Well, you could show me my bunk for starters," said the man.

"I'm sorry?" said Kaylee with a politely confused look upon her face.

"He's the new pilot," said River with her newly found beetle friend in a glass jar. She was staring at Brian Wynd trying to size him up.

"Well, you're very perceptive there miss!" said Wynd. "Names Brian Wynd but people usually just call me Wynd," he said holding out his hand.

"Nice to meet you," said Kaylee happily grabbing and shaking his hand. "I'm Kaylee, the ship's mechanic," she quickly added.

"And you two are...?" Wynd trailed off turning to Simon and River.

"How in the hell did he get his teeth so white?" muttered Simon under his breath. "He looks like a womanizer. Bet him and Jayne'll get on just fine."

He cleared his throat loudly and said, "I'm Simon Tam the doctor on board Serenity and boyfriend to this fine mechanic." In the tone of his voice, there seemed to be a silent warning. Wynd gulped uncomfortably.

"Pleased to meet you or at least I'm sure I'll be soon," said Wynd shaking Simon's hand. Simon gripped Wynd's hand tightly pinching it. "Guess not," muttered Wynd to himself.

"And this is River, Serenity's co-pilot," said Kaylee her famous smile fading a bit.

"Oh nice to meet-" began Wynd.

"She's also my sister," said Simon glaring at Wynd.

Wynd and Simon exchanged glances, Simon glaring at him and Wynd trying not to look too put out.

"Nice to meet you," smiled Wynd turning back to River, shaking her hand.

"He's very protective of me," she smiled.

"You don't say," said Wynd still eyeing Simon.

"I do say," said River.

"This way to your bunk Wynd," said Kaylee smiling at him. Simon just looked at him with squinted eyes and turned towards Kaylee. They began to whisper to each other, Simon's coming out in angry high-pitched whistles.

"I hope I remembered to pack that laser gun. I'll be needing it for my own protection," shivered Wynd.

He began following at a distance behind Kaylee and Simon. River was walking beside Wynd and carefully holding her dear bug's new home in both her hands. He turned to his side and saw that she was staring intently up at him. He quickly turned his head back and sped up.

"He's a little uptight too but that will pass as long as you keep your hands to yourself," River whispered in his ear catching up to him.

"I've landed myself in a nutter boat," muttered Wynd to himself.

"You've no idea," said River.

"Has anyone ever told you your very creepy like?" asked Wynd.

"All the time," smiled River.

"Yup. Fengle," gulped Wynd. River looked at him and began to giggle.

Wynd mumbled a brief prayer, making a cross sign on his chest before following Kaylee and Simon around the corner with River still giggling behind him. She hadn't been this amused and un-bored like in, well, she didn't know how long. This was fun.

--

Fifteen minutes later - ten minutes late I might add - Mal, Zoe and Jayne were finally back on Serenity.

"Kaylee!" yelled Mal just stepping into the ship and in the cargo bay. Zoe and Jayne were following closely behind him.

"Yeah cap'n?" called Kaylee turning to face Mal.

There was a couple in the cargo bay with luggage in tow, waiting for Kaylee to show them to their bunk. Simon was currently engaging the couple in what Mal assumed was rich dribble as they looked the respectable sort, or dressed that way at least.

"Are Wynd and River ready?" asked Mal. Zoe and Jayne were standing behind him.

"Yes cap'n," reported Kaylee.

"Everyone else on board?" asked Mal casually.

"Inara's on board," smiled Kaylee knowing that was what he had meant.

"Good. And any guests?" he asked curiously.

"We have three sir," started Kaylee slowly. She gave the Mal what she hoped was a cute and innocent smile.

"On board?" said Mal. He didn't like or trust the tone in her voice.

"Well, not quite," said Kaylee.

"Not quite?" said Mal angrily.

"They're either on or they're not," said Jayne with a growl.

"Well cap'n," began Kaylee shooting a look at Jayne that quite plainly said, "Your not helping." "I told her what time to be back and I did mention that you weren't a very patient man."

"The captain, not patient? How do you figure?" said Zoe in mock surprise.

"She, is it?" said Jayne suddenly looking up gaining new interest. He gave a small grin to everyone staring at him.

"You know the rules on my boat Jayne. No bedding the guests," said Mal sternly.

"That's not a rule!" said Jayne.

"Well it is now," replied Mal giving Jayne a stern look.

He grunted in disgust.

Simon perked up his ears at this.

"She looks like trouble," he said.

"Trouble?" asked Mal.

"Yes," said Simon. "She looks like trouble, you shouldn't let her on."

"No," said Kaylee giving Simon a backward glance. "She was nice."

"Well, since this is my boat, I think I can decide who should or shouldn't be allowed on," said Mal. Simon scowled.

Mal had a strange look on his face. He looked like there was a battle going on inside of his head about whether or not he should wait for this passenger. They needed the money badly and though Mal already had the first half of his job payment, some more money could never hurt. But they were already later than what Mal had planned on and this woman might not even show up at all. They needed to go now. No telling if this ship they were to find was still untampered with, or worse if the Alliance had gotten a hold of it. If it were left intact it would be a miracle on it's own. Every second counted on a job of this sort and Mal was already late arriving on Serenity. No, he couldn't wait any longer. They needed to go and the sooner the better.

He straightened out his face and turned to look at Kaylee.

"We're leavin' now," said Mal. "Can't wait any longer for this mystery woman to show up."

Simon immediately cheered up.

"But Mal-" began Jayne. "A woman," he said like that was supposed to make a difference.

"Don't make no difference to me whether it's a woman, man, or a flyin' cow. They're late and I'm leavin'," said Mal.

Jayne scowled and Kaylee turned away. They knew that what the captain said was final and that they could not change his mind.

"Get ready for take off. I'll tell Wynd on the COM," muttered Mal. He nodded to the couple staring at them, and the man returned his nod.

"Yes sir," said Zoe walking off.

Simon grinned obviously pleased with the situation, which only made Kaylee more glum, and followed Zoe up the stairs and out of sight.

Jayne and Kaylee slowly began to make their way down the cargo bay. Jayne sat down gloomily on a nearby crate with his head in his hands. Kaylee sighed disappointedly and walked up to the couple, with a small smile on her face. She had been looking forward to having some new faces around with some interesting stories to share, though she was glad the couple was still here.

Jayne muttered, "A woman," under his breath and turned to give a dirty look at Mal. He had been looking forward to... well you should know. It is Jayne after all.

Mal walked over to the COM system and pushed the red button to talk to Wynd. "Let's take off Wynd," said Mal into the COM.

"Yes sir," said Wynd.

Wynd started up the engines. Serenity gave more of a groan than a purr and a weak groan at that, but she ran smoothly all the same and that was what counted for Mal. As long as Serenity could stay airborne, that's all he needed and wanted in life. He was a happy man, or as happy a man can be with a ship being the love of his life in a way. Mal closed his eyes and smiled contentedly listening to his boat. He quickly opened his eyes, however, when he heard yelling outside and took his hand off the button that would have closed Serenity up.

"What in the gorram hell?" muttered Mal peering out of the cargo bay to the streets of Persephone.

Jayne lifted his head up to see what the commotion was and Kaylee turned from the couple to look outside too. There was a woman running through the streets, throwing her sunglasses and black scarf from her face, which let her long, wavy, golden brown hair loose. She was holding a huge canvas bag that was filled to the max and looked as if it was about to burst at the seams. The Alliance soldiers were running not too far behind her screaming for the pedestrians to get out of the way.

Mal slowly walked forward to get a better look at the scene. His mouth was slightly open in shock and his eyes were as wide plates. Both Kaylee and Jayne were the same, he sitting upon his crate and she turned away from the curious couple staring at the scene in shock. A gasp escaped Kaylee's lips breaking the silence.

"I recognize that woman! That's Sally Fischer!" yelled Kaylee surprised.


	3. Chapter 2: The New Additions

Note: I hope your enjoying this story, please READ and REVIEW!! I'd love to know how many of you are liking it!! For those of you who have read it, thanks! This is my first story I've put online and I really appreciate all the positive feedback I can get!! Okay, story continued!! :-)

**Chapter 2: The New Additions**

Mal looked at her confused. "Who?" asked Mal.

"Our missing passenger!" said Kaylee. She quickly walked over to the captain and stood right next to Mal, staring at the scene playing out in front of them with wide, bewildered eyes. Jayne had followed Kaylee and was standing on the other side of Mal. The shocked couple just stood back and whispered among themselves.

"What a woman. My kind of gal," smiled Jayne.

Mal quickly tore his eyes from the scene. He turned behind him and ran to the COM system. Mal reached the COM and quickly mashed the red button.

"Wynd, don't take off yet!" he said into the COM.

"Couldn't if I wanted to. There seems to be something wrong with the steering," muttered Wynd distractedly. A sound came through the COM that sounded an awful lot like someone shaking something violently.

Mal scowled at the sound of the rattling.

"Well, I wouldn't mind if you fixed it quickly. And don't damage my boat!" added Mal.

"I'm trying sir. I couldn't damage this boat anymore than it already is if I tried," said Wynd angrily but Mal wasn't listening. He had run right back to the opening of the boat and continued to watch the scene in amazement. Kaylee and Jayne were watching with him, Jayne a little more intently then the others. Well, on Sally anyway.

"Kaylee, who did you allow to passenger my boat?" muttered Mal not taking his eyes off the scene.

"I really don't know cap'n," said Kaylee.

Mal turned to Kaylee and Jayne.

"Go strap in quick," he said. "We'll be takin' off real fast just as soon as she's on."

"Yes sir," they said together, smiles spreading on each face for completely different reasons. Jayne ran up the stairs and towards a door that led to Serenity's dining room, while Kaylee hurriedly picked up the couple's luggage.

"If you'll follow me," she said happily to the couple, who still had shocked looks on their faces.

"You can't be letting that woman on board," said the wife in a worried tone.

"Certainly not my dear," said her husband.

"She's really not that bad. Anyway, it's the captain's decision," said Kaylee brightly, walking through the door, the couple following closely behind muttering outrages to one another.

Mal turned back on the scene. Sally looked like she was dancing with all the twists and turns she was forced to make to avoid a collision with the crowd.

"Out of my way!" yelled Sally Fischer to the public in the streets running up to Serenity. An old man directly in her way looked behind him and quickly stepped aside.

"Thank you kindly sir!" yelled Sally speeding past him.

"Never in all my days..." he muttered to himself looking affronted.

Sally finally reached Serenity and ran right up to Mal. She stopped gasping for breath when she reached him, bending over slightly.

The Alliance was having a tough time getting past the crowd, resulting to pushing and shoving to try and get through. It didn't help; it just really pissed people off.

"Here you go captain," said Sally Fischer holding out the canvas bag. She was still breathing heavily and had one hand on her hip rubbing at the stitch in her side.

"What's this?" asked Mal.

"Your money," Sally grinned, still holding out the bag. "My passage," she added as an afterthought.

Mal grabbed the canvas bag from her and took a quick glance inside. The bag was stuffed to the point of overflowing with money.

"I fit as much as I could in there," said Sally looking back at the Alliance. The crowd had grown very angry with them and an old woman, the same old woman that gave the crew directions earlier that day seemed to be giving the Alliance officers a lecture on politeness. Sally grinned.

"What'd you do, rob a bank?" asked Mal looking up at her.

She turned to look him in his eyes.

"Something like that, yes," said Sally. "Is that a problem for you?" she added.

"Nope," said Mal smiling. "Welcome on board," he added.

"Thank you kindly," said Sally returning the smile.

Mal turned to run to the COM as Sally walked further into the ship. She turned her head around to look back outside and it looked as though the Alliance had shaken off the old lady, though she was still yelling behind them and wagging her finger as if they were still there. They were running towards Serenity at a surprisingly fast pace. The crowd was now hurrying out of their way to avoid the inevitable collision if they did not and an unnecessary bruise or two.

When Mal reached the COM he quickly mashed the red button with the back of his hand and said, "Wynd get my boat out of here. Now," he added.

"Yes sir, I'm working on that," said Wynd.

"There's no more workin' Wynd. We need to leave," said Mal hurridly.

"The steering's stuck, it won't - Ah! There it goes," said Wynd into the COM.

Serenity pulled up just in time. Another few seconds and the Alliance would have been swarming the ship. Mal gave a sigh of relief and closed the hatch to the cargo bay.

"Nice job Wynd," said Mal.

"Sure thing captain," said Wynd smugly.

Mal scowled. "I can't believe I hired him," he thought sighing deeply. He then turned his attention to his most interesting passenger.

"Whew, the Alliance sure do run slow for trained soldiers of combat," said Sally.

"It's all that pretty and expensive, but heavy, armor they wear," replied Mal.

Mal smiled and looked down at Sally Fischer. She had collapsed on the floor and was taking in deep breaths of air. Mal's grin grew wider as he watched her. He looked highly amused. He walked up to Sally and stopped right in front of her looking down. She looked up at him and smiled. He stared down at her and smiled back. He had a look on his face that told her he knew something - a secret about her. Sally sighed heavily.

"We need to talk don't we?" she asked while keeping her grin.

"Oh yeah," replied Mal. "We really do."

She nodded in assent. "Knew that one was coming," muttered Sally to herself.

Mal held out a hand for her to take. She stared at him for a second but then gently placed her soft hand in his rough hand and he hauled her up off of the floor with one swift motion.

"Follow me," said Mal turning around towards a metal staircase that led to a landing with a doorway at each end. Sally grabbed the canvas bag filled with the money she had collected and followed behind him.

They climbed up a set of stairs, through a doorway and walked down a long metal hallway turning right into another hallway. Sally was looking all around the ship and taking in the details. The hallway was very poorly lit not putting out much light, only enough to see where you were going and not stumble on anything. She could make out doors that must have led to some of the crews' bunks.

Their boots echoed in the corridor as they walked on the metal grates that was Serenity's floor throughout most of the ship_. Clang, clang, clang_. Though most people would find a ship such as this cold and uninviting Sally felt strangely at home here. When they walked down the end of the hallway there was an opening into another room.

"This way to the dinin' quarters," said Mal stepping through the entryway.

Sally followed in right behind him looking all around the room. There was a big wooden table in the middle of the room with nine wooden chairs surrounding the table. They were stained a honey color that was perfect for this room, and added to the home-like feeling. The walls were painted a neutral shade of yellow. Not a bright or loud shade but a shade of yellow that Sally thought was quite pretty. Someone had stenciled red flowers all around the walls of the kitchen and dining area that made the room feel much cozier.

Though this was one big room there was a wall in the middle distinctly divided the space into two separate rooms. There was a square cut into the wall dividing kitchen and dining room so that the conversation and laughter could flow into both rooms without getting interrupted. There was an old stainless steel oven with a sink sitting right next to it on the right-hand side. To the left of the oven was a counter space and a small door that was currently open. Sally could see that it was the pantry holding the crews' canned goods and other foods. She could also see the refrigerator was in there. She smiled to herself. It reminded her of her ship with... but no, she couldn't think of that. She had to keep a clear head. Only then could she achieve what she was after. Only then could she reach her goal; revenge was near.

There was a young woman sitting at the table who Sally recognized as Kaylee the mechanic. There was also another man sitting beside her whom Sally did not recognize. He had a very good build to him and beautiful calm like blue eyes. He had a wonderful, even, golden brown tan to his skin. He was a very handsome man but didn't look too clever.

As soon as she had walked in the blue eyed man had quickly looked up and smiled. Not a welcoming smile, well... a welcoming smile in a way but it put a chill down Sally's spine. He was now looking her up and down, as though he were a x-ray scanning her body. That made her feel uncomfortable and her skin began to crawl but she could definitely handle him. She'd experienced men like him, sleeping with anything that could walk, talk and a pair of... well you know. Point is Sally could take care of herself and she feared she would have to with this one.

"Have a seat," said Mal. He had pulled out a chair for her to take.

"Thank you," smiled Sally taking a seat.

Sally looked over to Kaylee who gave her a warm smile. "Welcome on board Sally," she said.

"Thank you Kaylee," smiled Sally in return.

She gently placed the canvas bag to the side where Mal was sitting. He grabbed it and placed the bag underneath his chair.

"First things first," said Mal looking Sally directly in the eyes.

"Yes?" said Sally.

"Your names not really Sally Fischer," said Mal.

It wasn't a question. He was stone faced serious and Sally could not tell what he was thinking.

"No," said Sally. The smile faded from her face.

"Who are you then?" asked Kaylee shocked.

Sally did not answer at first. "He knows who I am. He knows I'm here to kill one of his crew," she thought worriedly.

"Maybe this will help," said Mal pushing a paper in the middle of the table. Kaylee and Jayne straightened up and leaned in to read the paper. Sally sat up stiffly in her chair and grinned looking down at the piece of paper. She wrinkled her nose in distaste.

"That was a bad picture," she said in remembrance with a grimace on her face.

Kaylee took the notice from the table and began to read:

**Wanted: Savvy Sally**

**For continuously robbing Alliance banks and injuring Alliance officers. Robberies began three years ago. A reward is being posted for the capture of this woman. Use caution if approached by her and avoid contact at all costs. Savvy Sally is considered to be very dangerous and hostile and should ****NOT**** be approached unless necessary for detainment or in self-defense. **

**Her full name is Savannah Haley Sally. She has brown hair and brown eyes. She is approximately five feet five inches in height. All reports have her signature look to be a black trench coat with a matching scarf, black sunglasses and black boots. **

**There is currently a reward of 5,000 platinum pieces to anyone who can capture her, dead or alive. Again we must stress to ****NOT**** approach her. The Alliance thanks you for any information you may have on the whereabouts of this woman.**

Kaylee stopped reading and looked up at Savannah Sally in surprise.

"Your Savvy Sally?" Jayne asked.

Kaylee quickly turned to look at Savannah for confirmation.

"Yes," said Savannah.

The room was quiet for a second.

Jayne was the first to speak. "Well, innit that something," he said putting his feet on the table and grinning at Savannah.

"A man of few words," muttered Savannah.

"You have no idea," said Mal as Kaylee smacked Jayne's leg and his feet fell from the table.

"What'cha do that for?" asked Jayne forced to sit properly in his chair by the little mechanic.

"We eat on this table," said Kaylee.

Jayne grunted.

"I'm sure we'd all like to hear your story Savannah," Kaylee smiled.

"You'd really like to hear it?" asked Savannah.

"I sure would," muttered Mal.

"Sure," put in Jayne politely.

"Well, okay then. But it's really lame, I must warn you," said Savannah.

"I doubt that," said Mal seriously. Savannah grinned.

"Well," she began. "I grew up on a small desert moon not too far from Persephone. I had a happy childhood despite what you may think," she said.

Mal and Kaylee laughed while Jayne grunted.

"But," Savannah began.

"Knew that was comin'," muttered Jayne.

"When I was eleven my parents separated. I know my dad was seeing some damn companion who just got out of the academy," said Savannah angrily. Her face was turning red in remembrance. "If I ever find out where that woman is I'll kill her with my bare hands."

Jayne grinned widely. "So you don't know who she was?" he asked.

Savannah turned to him. "No. The only thing I remember about her is that she had dark features, dark eyes and hair. She was tanned. And I remember her voice. She had a calm and soothing voice. I'll never forget it," she said.

"Forget what?" asked Simon walking into the dining room.

Savannah turned around to look at the doctor. Simon's jaw dropped in surprise.

"You!" yelled Simon.

"Glad someone's happy to see me," smiled Savannah.

"But you weren't here in time! We left without you!" said Simon.

"Almost but not quite," smiled Savannah. "Sorry to disappoint doc, but believe you and me it's not the first time," she sighed.

Jayne stood up to stand in front of the doctor. "If you got a problem with her I could always throw you off the ship," he growled.

"That's not a bad idea," thought Savannah out loud.

"Hey now everyone," said Kaylee giving all of them disappointed looks like a mother scolding her kids.

"Everyone sit down and let Savannah finish her story," said Mal.

"Savannah?" asked Simon sitting down.

Jayne passed him the wanted poster. Simon's eyes widened in surprise.

"I knew she was bad news," he muttered under his breath.

Savannah gave him a nasty look and Jayne cracked his knuckles. Jayne gave one quick dry look at Simon and sat back down slowly. Simon pulled up a chair and sat next to Kaylee who put her arm around him protectively.

"Anyway," began Savannah again still looking at the doctor angrily. "After my parents separated I went to live with my mother. Not long after the war started my father joined up with the browncoats. He was killed not too long after. I guess you could say that's where my hate for the Alliance came from," said Savannah.

"I'm so sorry Savannah," said Kaylee sadly.

"I'm sure he was a fine soldier," said Mal.

"Thank you both, but I wasn't really close with my father and I never forgave him for what he did to my mother. Even now a part of me still resents him for tearing our family apart. After he died my mother was heartbroken, I could tell. She looked so sad all the time. She started losing a lot of weight; she was small to begin with. Not long after my father's death I started working at this local bar. I was fourteen at the time. My mom didn't make much money so we needed everything that we could get. A few months after my dad died, my mother passed away as well."

Kaylee was about to say something but Savannah put up her hand.

"It's okay. It just gave me one more reason to hate my dad. After her death, the bar became my only home. We got mostly browncoats in there and one day, when the war ended, we were having this huge celebration. It might seem weird to you guys since the Independence lost but we were happy that the war was finally over and our friends and family could come back," said Savannah smiling at the memory.

"That is a bit strange," said Mal.

"And unpatriotic like," said Jayne scowling who had nothing to do with the war.

"We tried to make something out of a horrible situation. I don't think that's strange at all," began Savannah angrily eyeing them both.

Mal returned her look with an even nastier one and Jayne began to grin. Simon looked at her with distaste in his eyes.

"One day this man walks in and orders rounds for everyone. He was young, only twenty-one at the time. He came up and sat down right at the bar. I was taken with him right away. I thought he was so handsome. Then we started talking. He said he was in the war and he just got out alive. And of course I was impressed seeing how young he was and how brave he must have been to survive the Alliance. I realized he hadn't told me his name, so I asked him for it," smiled Savannah turning pink in the cheeks.

"What was it?" asked Kaylee. She had a huge smile on her face and was leaning in across the table eager to hear what was coming next.

"Calm down now Kaylee, don't need you getting too excited," said Jayne leaning back in his chair.

Simon gave Jayne a dirty look. "You'll fall down one of these days, and I'll be waiting with anticipation when you do."

Jayne snorted. "Don't worry 'bout me doc or 'bout that anticipation mess," he said laughing.

Simon raised a weary eyebrow.

"Shhh you guys. What was his name Savannah?" asked Kaylee.

"His name was Tracey Smith. I'll never forget him either," smiled Savannah.

Kaylee turned white and looked at Simon whose mouth was currently wide open. He hadn't expected her to say that; none of them did. Jayne clunked his chair back down to the floor with a loud thump and looked truly confused. Mal just sat there with no expression on his face but truly had a lot going on in his mind.

"Didn't we know this Tracey guy?" asked Jayne with the same stupid and confused look on his face that he seemed to wear all day, every day.

Mal turned to look at Jayne in disbelief.

"Yes Jayne. You remember the time we ordered the dead guy? Ring any kinda bell in that hard head of yours?"

"Oh yeah," said Jayne smiling in remembrance. That was the day he got his favorite hat from his mama. "Caused a lot of problems that one did," grunted Jayne.

"You knew Tracey?" asked Kaylee. She was still very white remembering the awkward and potentially lethal situation she was placed in that day.

"Yes," replied Savannah. "That's how I found out about you guys and Serenity."

"Huh?" asked Mal a look of confusion spreading across his face.

Savannah smiled widely. They didn't know. They didn't know about her and Tracey, and if they didn't know that they couldn't know why she was truly here, what she was getting ready to do.

"Finally stumped you. I'll explain everything eventually. Now, I had just met Tracey. We spent the entire night talking and he managed to convince me to take off with him. "Travel the 'verse with me," he said. And I accepted," said Savannah.

"That easy?" asked Mal.

"That easy," said Savannah.

Jayne smiled broadly. "Savannah will you travel the 'verse with me?" he asked.

Savannah raised her eyebrow. "No," said Savannah in a flat tone.

Simon snorted and placed his head down on the table shaking with laughter. Jayne growled at him. Mal laughed out loud.

"Go on Savannah," said Kaylee eagerly. The color had returned to her face and she was now completely engrossed with the story again.

"Well, I had just turned seventeen, I'd never been off of that moon and this handsome man wanted me to travel the 'verse with him. It wasn't a difficult decision," said Savannah.

"He wattn't that good looking," growled Jayne. "He was kinda pale even."

"He was dead. Dead people are pale," said Simon.

"He was gorgeous," said Savannah.

"And charming," put in Kaylee.

Everyone turned to stare at her.

"Well, when he wasn't holdin' me hostage," said Kaylee blushing.

"Tracey was very charming," Savannah grinned. "He could make me do anything just by staring at me with those big brown eyes," she recalled.

"Oh now this is just getting disgusting," said Jayne scowling.

"I agree," said Simon.

"Let's just get on with the story and skip the sappy parts," muttered Mal.

"Men," said Kaylee.

"So we bought this small ship to travel in, only one bunk in it and no one ever slept alone if you know what I mean," grinned Savannah.

The others grinned to themselves and Jayne growled deeply under his breath. Kaylee giggled and put her arm around Simon again.

"A few weeks later we needed money and one of Tracey's friends told us about this easy way to get cash," said Savannah.

"Robbin' banks?" asked Mal.

"Organ transfers," replied Savannah. Jayne sat up at these words.

"Ah," said Mal. "Shoulda known."

"I went along with it because we needed the money and because I trusted Tracey. I had fallen in love with him at that point. I told myself that this job would backfire eventually, that something would go wrong but it never did and each time we did it, it just got easier. Before I knew it a year had passed and I was eighteen. Tracey surprised me on my birthday and proposed to me. I accepted and we were married the next day. In fact, I still wear the rings," said Savannah holding out her left hand in the middle of the table.

Everyone at the table leaned in to look at the rings. Her engagement ring was silver with a small blood red stone in the middle. She had a matching silver wedding band on the same finger. Kaylee took Savannah's hand gently and looked at the rings.

"Nice," said Mal.

"That's a small stone," said Jayne looking at her finger in disgust.

"It's a stone native to St. Albin's where Tracey's from. His father's a miner and he dug it out of the earth. Tracey's made it into a ring for me," said Savannah smiling broadly at the memory.

"They're beautiful," said Kaylee giving Jayne a dirty look. She let go of Savannah's hand and smiled at her.

"Thank you Kaylee," smiled Savannah. "We got each others initial's engraved inside our wedding rings," she said gently fingering her wedding ring.

"That's quite touching," said Simon.

"I thought so too," smiled Savannah. "It was Tracey's idea. After a couple of months of married life though, he started drinking. Heavily," Savannah added.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Mal.

Savannah scowled. "I tried to help him after I realized that it was becoming a problem. But he didn't want me to help. He didn't think he had a problem. We grew further apart and instead of dealing with it I left. I wrote a letter explaining why I had left and begging him to get help. And that was it. I never saw him again," said Savannah with tears in her eyes. Kaylee looked at her with sad eyes as though she wanted to go to Savannah right now and hug her. Savannah hoped to the goodness of the 'verse that she didn't. "I've regretted it every day since. It was only six months after we got married. Well, I decided to stop doing the organ transfers and tried to get an honest job," said Savannah with a sigh.

"Robbing banks ain't exactly what you can call honest now is it, or is your definition somewhat different from the norm?" asked Mal sarcastically.

"Funny," replied Savannah while the others laughed. "But seriously, jobs were scarce, they still are, and no one would hire me. I had to do something since I'm kinda used to eating so I had to find a paying job, anything at all. Some people approached me and asked me if I would be interested in doing some dirty work. I hadn't eaten in a week so I said yes. Turns out it was bank robbing."

"Go figure," said Mal.

"That night we went into a bank and actually pulled it off," she finished.

"You have a nice meal after?" asked Jayne.

"The best meal in my life," she smiled. Jayne returned the smile.

"I would guess so," said Kaylee grinning.

"I did the bank jobs until my nineteenth birthday. That day I thought to myself, "It's time to start doing this on my own." Because I knew I could do it by myself. I'd been robbing for about six months so I had some experience and more than enough sense not to get caught. A few weeks after my birthday I got a letter from Tracey telling me that he had stopped drinking. I was so happy I almost went to him right off," said Savannah.

"Well why didn't you?" asked Simon. He was now so involved in Savannah's story you could hear the excitement in his voice.

Savannah smiled. "Because of what I had done to him."

"He would have forgiven you," said Mal. He sounded so certain.

Savannah turned to look Mal in the eyes, her hazel meeting his blue. "I know that. Tracey could forgive anyone for anything. He would have forgiven me in a heartbeat. But I just couldn't face him after what I had done. I was so disappointed in myself," she said.

"You shouldn't have been," said Simon.

"People make mistakes," added Kaylee.

"All the gorram time," said Jayne.

"But I was married! This man was my husband, and instead of helping him solve his problem I ran away like a scared little girl," said Savannah with tears in her eyes.

Mal opened his mouth to say something but quickly closed it. The rest just stared at her. None of them quite knew what to say to her.

"I was too ashamed to show my face to him, to come back when his problem had already been dealt with. I felt like I had disappointed him, even though he never said so. Do you know what it's like to disappoint the only person who ever loved you?" asked Savannah. A passion was in her eyes that they had never seen before. They knew then that she was truly in love with Tracey. Whether he was with her, Mal didn't know. Tracey had never spoken about Savannah to him.

Kaylee shook her head no. Simon followed soon after her.

"Fraid not," muttered Jayne. He was leaning back on the chair again and looking at the edge of the table. A girl in distress was one thing but this was just getting ridiculous.

Savannah turned to Mal. "What about you?" asked Savannah.

Mal looked her straight in the eyes. "I know the feelin'," he replied then quickly glanced down.

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Savannah in a fragile voice. "I didn't even write him back," she said her voice cracking. "I wanted to give him something special to make up for what I had done."

"You didn't do nothin' wrong," said Jayne looking up at her.

"Your wrong. I did the worst thing a wife could do. I bailed when married life got tough. Then I began thinking that I could make some money to build a new life together. There was never a question about whether I wanted to be with Tracey. But if I had the money with me, we could live on a nice planet and grow old together," smiled Savannah.

"That was a nice thought," said Kaylee smiling at Savannah.

"I thought so. But by the time I was satisfied with the amount and went looking for Tracey, I found out he was dead," said Savannah. Her voice was so low by now that the others had to lean in to hear her. "I went back to see his parents. They told me what had happened and who brought his body back."

She turned to look at Mal, her eyes glossy. "I needed to meet you Mal, I needed to get on Serenity," she said.

Mal didn't know what to do. He barely knew Savannah and he wasn't all that close to Tracey though he was sad that he had died. Mal considered Tracey his friend and the distrust Tracey had showed to them that day had really hurt Mal and Zoe.

"I'm right here. You can ask me anything," said Mal.

"I knew you and Tracey were war buddies, but who I really wanted to talk to was you, doctor," said Savannah turning to look the doctor in the eyes.

"Me?" asked Simon.

"Yes," said Savannah, her voice cracking severely.

"But I didn't know him," said Simon surprised.

"I know, but you treated him," said Savannah.

She took her hand from the table and slipped it underneath. She was tugging something out of her pants, something shiny, which caught Mal's eye. Something metal.

"His parents told me what happened. And I want to know... I want to know," said Savannah the tears streaming down her face now. Her hand that she was holding the metal object with under the table was shaking. There was no mistake in Mal's mind now. Savannah was holding a gun. Mal quickly sat up straight and quietly pulled his gun out of its holster underneath the table so as not to alarm anyone else.

"Yes?" said Simon leaning in closer.

"Was there truly nothing you could do for him? I can't believe that you couldn't save him. Why couldn't you save him for me?" asked Savannah.

Jayne sat up straight and stiffened. He looked uncomfortable at Savannah's obvious distress. Kaylee stood up and walked around the table to where Savannah sat, putting her arm around Savannah's shoulder. She stiffened up tightening her hold on the gun.

"If there was anything that I could have done to save him I would have done it," said Simon. "I promise you, I would have done it."

Savannah looked him in the eyes. She could tell he truly meant what he was saying. The blackness that had filled her heart for many months now was suddenly gone. She no longer felt the need for revenge. She just felt empty and ashamed of herself.

"His death was an accident..." Savannah thought to herself. "That's all I've done was acted a fool and wasted my time and energy just to find out that Tracey's death was an accident. _Koa._"

A few more tears fell down her face as she carefully tucked the gun back in her pants and pulled her shirt over to cover it. Mal sighed relieved and put his own gun back in its holster. No one else seemed to notice what had just happened and Mal was glad.

"Oh God, I'm so pathetic," said Savannah covering her face and wiping the tears away with her shirt.

"No your not," said Kaylee trying to comfort Savannah as best as she could. "You lost somebody you loved. It's gonna take some time to get over it," said Kaylee gently patting Savannah on the back.

Jayne was still looking away. He didn't like to see women in such distress unless it was happening in their pants. Plus he didn't have a clue what to say to her.

"She should just let it go," muttered Jayne to himself. Now he knew if he ever said that loud enough for anyone else to hear he would get slapped the moment the sentence was out. He rubbed his cheek subconsciously. He could swear he already felt the stinging.

"Savannah," said Mal.

Savannah looked up to stare Mal in the face. She looked so fragile and broken, like the pieces of her heart could never be put together again. The anger that he had felt when she pulled out that gun quickly faded from him.

"Would I have done any different in her place?" he asked himself. "Probably not." If he thought anyone had harmed one of his crew or a loved one he would have done the same as Savannah, especially if it resulted in said loved one's death.

"Maybe you should go rest now," said Mal. "You look like you need it."

"Yeah," said Jayne relieved. He couldn't take much more of Savannah's crying at this point.

"Maybe," said Savannah.

"I'll show you-" began Kaylee.

"Let me," interrupted Mal. "I need to talk to her."

Savannah looked at him for a second and immediately knew. She suddenly burst into laughter.

"Are you okay?" asked Kaylee, her brows furrowed in concern.

"Yes," said Savannah still laughing. "I can't believe I'm that stupid!" she thought. "I can't believe he saw it!"

"What's so funny?" asked Inara walking into the dining room.

Savannah suddenly stopped laughing and turned to look at Inara. Those eyes were familiar. And that voice...

"Oh, your new I see," said Inara smiling warmly, walking towards Savannah.

"Jian huo!" yelled Savannah in anger and leapt from her seat to stand up. Her chair fell to the ground as she quickly ran towards Inara and punched her square in the nose. There was a loud crack as Inara fell down on the floor.

"What the-!" yelled Inara in surprise as Savannah climbed on top of her and slapped her across the face.

Jayne and Mal quickly got up, Jayne pulling Savannah off of Inara whom had just scratched Savannah across the face.

"You bitch! I'll kill you!" yelled Savannah grabbing Inara's hair as Jayne began to pull her away. This only resulted in Inara being dragged a few feet across the room by her hair before Jayne realized what was going on.

"Let go!" screamed Inara and Mal quickly pulled Savannah's hands open to release Inara's hair.

Jayne instantly pulled Savannah back; one huge arm around her stomach and his other holding both of her arms back.

Mal quickly pulled Inara to her feet. A small puddle of blood and hair was on the floor. Mal looked down at Inara and blood was gushing out of her nose. Simon quickly went over to inspect the damage.

"It's broken," announced Simon looking at Inara's bent and bloody nose, though it came as no surprise to the others after hearing that loud crack.

"You better take her doc, need to stop the bleedin'," said Mal staring angrily at Savannah.

"Yes," replied Simon holding Inara as they began to make their way to the physician's room.

Kaylee was sitting in a chair, looking completely baffled at what had just happened. As soon as Inara and Simon were gone Mal opened his mouth.

"I'd like to know what's going on here if you don't mind!" yelled Mal, nostrils flaring in anger. "What in the gorram hell were you thinking!" he added. Mal was red in the face and mad as hell but Savannah somehow looked fiercer at that moment.

"You know you have a lying, cheap, dirty, home-wrecking whore on your ship don't you?" screamed Savannah in fury.

"Yes I'm aware of that, but why did you hit her!" yelled Mal.

"Mal!" said Kaylee standing up in anger.

"This isn't the time for that kinda talk Mal," said Jayne disturbed to see all the blood on the floor and surprised as hell at what just happened, though he did have to admit he kinda enjoyed the brawl a little bit.

"This is my boat and I'll be sayin' what I please, whether I offend you or not," said Mal.

Jayne looked angrily at Mal, tightening his grip on Savannah's arms as Mal talked. Savannah tugged her arms out of Jayne's lock though he still held her tight around her waist.

"Let go!" said Savannah pulling Jayne's arm away with surprising force.

Mal quickly walked over to Savannah and grabbed her wrist tightly before she got a chance to walk away.

"Hey-"

"Tell me what that was all about before I throw you off my boat right now," said Mal.

"It's her!" said Savannah.

Mal gave a frustrated scream. "Who?!" he yelled.

"The companion that tore my family apart!" screamed Savannah.

"You – what?" asked Mal distracted. Then comprehension set in as he looked Savannah in the face.

"Yi da tuo da bian, no way in hell!" screamed Mal expressing his anger in both Chinese and English. "Why is it always on my gorram boat?" he asked running his hand through his hair.

"She is a companion, isn't she?" asked Savannah her expression on her face calming down.

"Yes. She is," said Kaylee slowly.

"I told you I've never forgotten her voice," said Savannah calmly.

Mal turned to her and scowled.

"I'm going to kill her!" she yelled suddenly trying to tug her wrist away from Mal's grip, but it held.

"Kill who?" asked Wynd cheerily clueless as he stepped into the dining room.

Everyone looked up as he entered the room. Wynd's smile quickly faded as he saw their faces and then quickly looked around. He saw the blood and hair on the floor.

"I missed something didn't I?" asked Wynd. He sounded a bit disappointed.

The others looked at him in disbelief even Jayne who doesn't quickly pick up on things.

"Her nose is fine now," said Simon reappearing through the doorway.

"What happened to whose nose?" asked Wynd confused.

"Well-" Jayne began, grinning while he spoke but Mal interrupted.

"Who's flyin' my boat?" asked Mal.

"River is," smiled Wynd showing off his unnaturally white teeth. "She's really good you know-" he added.

"Come with me!" said Mal pulling Savannah roughly behind him as he walked out of the dining room. Behind him he could hear Wynd asking, "What happened?" A flood of voices followed after.

"What are you doing?" said Savannah trying to pull away from his grip. It wasn't working. Mal didn't answer he just kept walking in a blind rage. When he had finally reached the room where Savannah was staying he opened the door and roughly pushed her in.

"Hey!" said Savannah stumbling to keep her balance as Mal closed the door behind him. "You can't do that-"

"I'm the captain and I can do any gorram thing I want on _MY_ boat!" he screamed.

Savannah looked down, her face turning red as her anger began to grow.

"You bring a gun on my boat with intentions of shootin' my doctor and you punch one of my crew members, breaking her nose!" yelled Mal.

"Well the punching thing wasn't my fault, and I thought your doctor had killed Tracey. What was I supposed to do?" said Savannah angrily.

"Oh I don't know, maybe you could have _ASKED_ me!" shouted Mal angrily.

"I'm not that straight forward," said Savannah.

"You were going to shoot my doctor, I'd say that's pretty straight forward. You know Tracey's dead because of himself. He didn't trust Zoe or me. He took things into his own hands, held my mechanic hostage and got shot in the process. He did it to himself," scowled Mal.

Savannah glared back at him.

"I know it's not what you want to hear but it's the truth," said Mal.

"I believe you," said Savannah. "It sounds like Tracey."

"Was that story true or were you playing us the whole time?" asked Mal.

"Oh it was all true, I knew I couldn't lie. I knew you'd see right through that. I did exaggerate a bit though, the crying bits. I'm not that weak, I was just trying to get you to trust me," smiled Savannah rubbing her wrist. "And it worked. Until I pulled out the gun of course."

Mal just glared at her.

Savannah grinned. "I knew you saw the gun. Why didn't you say anything then? Why didn't you give me up in front of your crew?" she asked.

"Because..." said Mal.

Savannah smiled. "You would have done the same thing," she said.

"Maybe, but that's not the point!" yelled Mal.

"Fine then," said Savannah. "What are you going to do to me?" she asked.

"You're confined to your quarters for the duration of your stay on this ship. We'll bring you meals, and you do have a bathroom in here. As soon as time permits, your off my boat," said Mal.

"Shiny," said Savannah turning away.

"Oh. And I'll be needin' that gun," said Mal holding out his hand. Savannah scowled and pulled her gun from her shirt. She turned around and placed the gun in Mal's hand. "Is that all?" she asked angrily.

"Yes," he smiled at her, then turned around and left the room.

Savannah heard him entering a code from the other side as her door locked.

"Ahhh!" she screamed in fury and punched a pillow on the bed.

--

Mal was walking down the deserted corridor when he heard a loud scream come from Savannah's room. He paused smiling and taking in the satisfaction. Then he turned right and continued walking down the hallway. He was about to turn right again when he heard a noise coming from the left. It was Zoe's room and it sounded like she was crying. Mal had heard Zoe crying numerous times since Wash had died, but not quite like this. Usually you had to get right up to her door to hear her. Zoe was a private person who hated to burden people with her troubles. That's what was so great about her. But this time was different somehow. It's like she didn't care who heard her sorrow now. Like she had just found out something terrible.

"I should go talk to her," said Mal to himself. "Try to comfort her."

So Mal turned left and walked right up to her door. The sobbing grew louder as he walked toward her room. He paused for a second, not sure what to say, then quietly knocked on the door.

"Zoe?" said Mal. "Everything okay in there?" Mal immediately grimaced and slapped his head thinking, "Of course not you dummy! She's crying."

There was a shuffling about in the room and then the door opened slightly. "You can come in sir," said Zoe.

Mal hesitated a little bit, he hadn't thought she would let him in. "She must need someone to talk to," thought Mal to himself.

A strange expression spread across his face as he entered. He closed the door behind him and turned to look at the room. Everything was neat and tidy except for the pile of used tissues on the floor. Zoe was sitting on the bed with her head down.

"Hey there Zoe," said Mal walking towards her.

"Sir," she said not looking up.

Mal hesitantly sat down on the bed next to her. He was very uncomfortable now and he didn't know what to say. What can you say to a person who, just two weeks earlier, had lost the man she cared about most in the world?

"I'm sorry," said Mal suddenly.

Zoe looked up to stare at him. Her eyes were glossy and somewhat bloodshot. "For what?" she asked, her voice cracking a little.

"For... for Wash. That he had to die," said Mal.

"Me too," she said. "But that ain't what I was crying about sir."

Mal suddenly looked up. "Huh?" he asked confused.

"You know how me and Wash was thinkin' about starting a family? Before he... well you know," sniffed Zoe.

"Don't tell me," said Mal staring wide eyed at Zoe.

"Sir, the family just grew," said Zoe with a weak smile.

Mal's mouth dropped open. He couldn't believe what she was saying. Zoe pregnant? And Wash was dead now. How could this happen? Well, he knew how it happened... It was just so unexpected. Zoe was staring at Mal now waiting for him to say something or at least do something.

"Wo de ma," he said quietly.

"Captain?" she said.

Mal turned to look her in the eyes. Then, suddenly and slowly a smile spread across his face.

"Congratulations Zoe!" he said pulling her into a hug.

"Thank you sir," she said relieved, half laughing. She had a huge smile on her face. It was the first time in a long time that she had smiled like that.

"When did you find out?" asked Mal pulling away and standing up. He was now quickly pacing the room. His brow was furrowed in deep concentration.

"I've thought I was since last week. I've been showin' all the signs. You know, morning sickness and such..." she trailed off.

"I see," said Mal continuing to pace around the room. "You know Zoe, you should go see the doctor," he said. He stopped pacing to look at her with stern eyes.

"No sir! I... I wanted to keep this a secret for a little while," Zoe said looking down at her boots.

"A secret?" he said.

"Yes," said Zoe looking up. "I don't want people fussin' about me none. And I want to continue with our jobs without getting scolded from the crew," she finished.

"Well Zoe, they'll know eventually," said Mal. "You can't hide a thing like being pregnant. They might wonder where the baby came from," Mal said.

"I know sir. It's just for a little while. Need to wrap my head around this a bit. I'm pregnant," she said with a smile.

Mal smiled back at her. He always heard that pregnant women went around with a glow about them but he had never believed it, until now that is. Zoe was truly happy right now and Mal was relieved. Only this could have pulled Zoe out of her rut. She now had a part of Wash to keep with her forever, and that emptiness in her eyes was beginning to fill back up. Zoe really did have a glow about her. It was a wonderful sight.

"Alright Zoe. I won't tell no one but you gotta figure out when to do it – and soon," said Mal. "Gotta make sure that baby inside you is okay."

"I understand sir," said Zoe.

"Well, I better go see about Inara," said Mal.

"Why, what happened?" asked Zoe concerned.

"Nothing serious, just a little broken nose," said Mal walking towards the door.

"But how? Sir?" said Zoe standing up but Mal had already left the room. Zoe peeked out and saw the captain walking down the hall.

Mal didn't much feel like explaining how Inara got a broken nose or who did the breaking. He sighed in frustration. How did these things happen, and why on his boat of all places?

"Just my luck," Mal sighed. He stopped suddenly.

"There's no such thing as luck," he muttered to himself. He sighed again and continued his walk down the hallway.

"What am I gonna do about her?" thought Mal to himself. Savannah was safely locked in a room with no weapons, so as not to harm anyone else or possibly escape. Mal turned the corner and walked up to the infirmary door.

"She'd make a fine addition to the crew," Jayne was saying.

"She twied to kill me!" said Inara. She had a small cast-like thing taped to her nose and she sounded funny talking. It was as if her nose was pinched and she was forced to breathe through her mouth and talk at the same time. Mal chuckled a little. No one noticed him.

"Well if ya wasn't always whorin' around this woulda never happened," said Jayne angrily. He had obviously taken quite a liking to Savannah.

"Jayne!" said Kaylee punching him on the arm.

"Ow!" said Jayne rubbing his arm while giving dirty looks to Kaylee.

"You never used to mind my whowing before today," said Inara angrily.

"Sure I did," said Jayne.

"You asked her quite a lot if she would bed you," said Simon with a sigh.

"I don't remember..." trailed Jayne. Inara eyed him. "I was just kidding when I asked you that," growled Jayne looking at the floor.

Simon snorted with laughter while Inara muttered, "Yeah wight," under her breath.

Mal smiled to himself as he walked into the room. Everyone turned and looked up at him.

"I never knew you to be the sort to joke about sex," smiled Mal.

"Well you don't know me very well," mumbled Jayne.

"Where is that giwl? I hope you locked her up!" said Inara angrily.

"You know it's hard to take you serious when you talk like that," smiled Mal. Inara scowled.

"Cap'n," said Kaylee.

"Okay, I'm sorry. She's safely locked in a room. Are you happy now?" asked Mal.

"A little," said Inara putting her hand over her nose so no one could see the cast.

"So when's that thing comin' off her nose?" asked Mal holding his laughter in.

"She needs to wear it for two weeks," said Simon.

"I see," said Mal.

"Why did she attack Inara?" asked Wynd. Mal looked at him and jumped a bit. He hadn't noticed that Wynd was in the room.

"Shouldn't you be flyin' my ship?" asked Mal annoyed.

"River's fine. She's very good, you should trust her a bit more," said Wynd.

Mal grunted under his breath. He was beginning to wonder why he had wanted to hire a pilot in the first place, especially now that the one he hired was currently talking to him and not flying Serenity.

"Apparently Inara was the one who broke up her family," said Mal.

"No," said Simon his jaw dropping.

"Really?" asked Kaylee shocked.

Jayne just smiled.

"I did not!" said Inara.

"Her words, not mine," said Mal raising his hands in the air.

The room was quiet for a little while.

"How did I bweak up her family?" she asked suddenly and angrily.

"By whorin' around," muttered Jayne.

Inara scowled.

"Apparently you had just come out of the Academy and bedded her father," said Mal. "Last name Sally," he added.

Inara's whole expression changed. Mal straightened up and cleared his throat.

"So you remember?" he asked.

Jayne leaned in eagerly.

"Yes," she replied. "So... I made a mistake. I didn't know he was mawied at the time and that was when we didn't have extensive backgwound checks on our clients." Inara looked awkwardly at the floor.

Jayne grinned broadly. "Good going Inara. Now you're a home wrecker."

"Shut up Jayne," snapped Kaylee.

"Calm down little Kaylee. I didn't mean nothin' by it," he said slowly.

There was a brief pause when, thankfully, River's voice came from the COM and broke the awkward silence.

"We're coming up on something captain. I think it's the ship," she said.

Mal pushed a round button. "I'll be right there River."


	4. Chapter 3: The Cargo

**Chapter 3: The Cargo**

By the time Mal, Wynd, and Jayne arrived, Zoe was already there waiting for them. River was looking ahead where a tiny dot could be seen. There was no doubt about it, that dot was a ship. They could see the lights were still on in most of the rooms and this was the flight path their employer had given to them. This had to be the ship that they were to retrieve the cargo from. They couldn't tell whether it was abandoned or not but it wasn't moving, and that couldn't be a good sign. When the three men entered the room, River and Zoe looked up.

"It'll take us a few minutes to reach the ship," said River.

"That'll give us enough time to get ready," said Mal. He glanced back at Zoe and Jayne.

"Yes sir," said Zoe leaving the room while Jayne followed behind.

"Where did they go?" asked Wynd.

"To get armed," replied Mal simply.

"Right," said Wynd taking his seat in the pilot's chair.

"Better safe than sorry. You'll learn that saying real quick working for me," said Mal looking down at Wynd.

"You don't say," laughed Wynd nervously.

"I do," said Mal. Wynd stopped laughing abruptly.

"Doin' a fine job River," said Mal patting her on the back while giving an icy cold stare at Wynd. He didn't see it though as he was now taking over flying the ship.

"What are these toys here for?" asked Wynd moving his hand towards one of the toy dinosaurs. "Mind if I move-"

"Do that and you'll be dead faster than you can even touch the first one. I don't know which one of my crew'll do it but believe me when I say I won't lose a wink of sleep if they do kill you," said Mal looking straight ahead at the tiny dot.

"You could have just said don't move the toys," said Wynd putting his hand back down.

"Don't move the toys," smiled Mal.

"Got it," said Wynd.

As they got closer to the mystery ship Mal became more anxious. He didn't much care for surprises, or mysteries, and he didn't much feel like being scared senseless by anything jumping out at them. He would hope that things would go smoothly this one time but he knew it wouldn't. Things never went smooth for him and his crew. Never. And that's not exaggerating.

"Ready sir?" asked Zoe walking back in, holding a large gun in her hands.

Jayne poked his head into the room. "Got Vera," he grinned.

"Let's go," said Mal grabbing a nearby gun and exiting the room with Zoe and Jayne following behind.

They walked down the hallway, past Savannah's room. Mal paused at her door to listen. There was no sound coming from the room. Mal sighed relieved. At least she wasn't making a ruckus and that was always good. "She can't cause trouble if she's this quiet," he thought to himself. "She must have figured out she's not getting out of that room." Mal grinned broadly.

"Sir?" said Zoe snapping Mal back into reality.

"Huh?" muttered Mal.

Jayne grinned. "That's Savannah's room isn't it?" he asked.

"Yeah," said Mal. "What of it?"

"Thinking about ravaging her before throwing her overboard?" Jayne grinned.

Mal frowned. "I ain't you Jayne. I got more important things to worry about. Like getting to the cargo before anyone else decides to come and have a look."

Jayne's grin quickly disappeared as Mal spoke turning into a scowl.

"Let's get on with it," said Mal continuing to walk. The other two followed behind him, Jayne grunting under his breath.

When they reached the cargo bay they suited up in a space outfit. Mal wasn't taking any chances with this mission. There was a reason this ship didn't make it to Persephone and that reason was currently unknown to him and his crew. Whether it was a sickness in the air, someone gone mad, or reavers, which was the worst situation he could think of, Mal would be prepared. He would never put his crew in more risk than was needed.

"Got your helmets on nice and tight? Don't need you dying on me," said Mal snapping his helmet in place.

"Yes sir," replied Zoe.

"Yeah," grunted Jayne.

Mal turned to the control panel and pushed a button. "Ready to latch on Wynd."

"Right," said Wynd.

Serenity slowed down to the point where she was barely moving. This was delicate work, latching onto a ship, especially since they didn't know if the ship they were to latch onto was damaged or not. And if it was they certainly didn't need to bump into it by ramming Serenity into the side (for both of the ships' sake). The cargo could get destroyed and that was what mattered most right now. Mal needed that cargo; even more, his crew needed that cargo. A few tense seconds later Serenity was safely attached to the ship with no problems.

"Get ready," said Mal. "Never know what's on the other side."

Zoe and Jayne nodded and both held up their guns ready to shoot anything that may suddenly jump out at them. Mal nervously licked his lips and pushed a big, round red button. Two enormous doors slowly opened while a large piece of metal that was Serenity's backside lowered to reveal —

"It's completely trashed," said Jayne tightening his grip on Vera.

"That it is Jayne," said Mal looking in every direction of the ruined room.

Jayne was right of course. No matter where you looked in that room there was something broken or ripped. Crates were smashed to bits, their contents strewn across the floor. Control panels were now just large clumps of tangled wiring on the floor. The stair railings were ripped off and thrown across the room, even the doors were torn, swinging on their hinges ready to fall off at any time. Mal didn't like this one bit. What could do something like this? Or, even worse, who? Mal shuddered to think of meeting the person capable of this.

Zoe was holding a little computer-like device in her hand.

"There's nothing wrong with the air sir. Nothing that I can see," she said.

But as soon as Mal had seen the damage on this ship he had known they didn't need the suits. He slowly took his helmet off and took a deep breath with Zoe following his lead. Jayne watched closely to see if anything happened and when Mal and Zoe seemed all right and quite healthy he removed his helmet too.

"What do you reckon happened here?" asked Jayne.

"Don't know," said Zoe pocketing the small computer and lifting up her gun.

"Hard to say," said Mal raising his gun too.

"Reavers?" asked Jayne nervously.

"No," said Mal quickly.

Everyone gave a sigh of relief.

"Reavers don't leave a mess like this. No, it was definitely something else."

"No damage to the outside of the ship either," said Zoe. "Whatever or whoever did this was already inside."

Jayne looked nervously about. All three looked at each other for a few tense seconds thinking about what Zoe had just said. Mal then pulled out the blueprints to the ship that their mystery boss had given them.

"We're somewhere in the middle of the ship," said Mal looking over the blueprints. "Right here," he pointed. "We need to get to the very end of the ship right here," said Mal pointing at the blueprints again.

"Yeah yeah. Nuff talkin' and more walkin'," grumbled Jayne. He was very nervous and annoyed about the whole situation.

Mal quickly put up the blueprints and raised his gun.

"Right, follow me," said Mal motioning the other two forward.

--

Savannah gave a frustrated cry as she heard the door lock.

"He really is impossible," snapped Savannah angrily. "But stupid," she grinned to herself.

She walked toward her luggage in hopes that no one had gone through her things. Savannah unzipped her bag and reached inside where there was an almost invisible tear in the seam of the bag. She poked two fingers in there and retrieved her knife. It was small but it would do.

"Still here," smiled Savannah.

She flicked the blade out and began walking towards her door where there was a small pad with buttons on it, like a security system. Savannah's smile now turned into a broad, mischievous grin as she placed her knife between a crease and began pulling it out toward her body so that the cover would pop off revealing buttons and wires. But just then she heard a small stifled cry, which quickly turned into sobs. She paused for a moment. There was a knocking sound and the cries stopped.

"Zoe. Everything okay in there?"

It was Mal's deep voice Savannah realized scowling. There was a brief pause and then - "You can come in sir," said a woman's voice.

The voices continued to carry but Savannah ignored them. "I have to get this panel off," she thought to herself continuing to pull the panel with her knife. And a few seconds later with a soft POP! sound the panel fell to the ground revealing naked buttons and wires behind.

"Success," whispered Savannah happily. She began pulling a rainbow of wires out so that she could see them properly. She had to think carefully about which wire would open her damn door. If she chose the wrong wire it could throw off the security system.

"If this piece of le se ship can even handle one," thought Savannah savagely. "It might not even work!"

"Congratulations Zoe!"

Savannah jumped at the exclamation.

"Thank you sir," she heard Zoe say.

"Congratulations for what?" mumbled Savannah listening closely.

"When did you find out?" said Mal.

Savannah was now completely immersed in the conversation, not daring even to breathe for fear of missing a single word.

"I've thought I was since last week. I've been showin' all the signs." Savannah frowned.

"You know, morning sickness and such..." said Zoe.

"No!" said Savannah shocked clasping a hand to her mouth. She was afraid that they might have heard her but they went on as if nothing had happened.

"I see," said Mal. "You know Zoe you should go see the doctor."

"No sir! I... I wanted to keep this a secret for a little while."

"A secret?" whispered Savannah.

"A secret?" said Mal. Savannah rolled her eyes.

"Yes," replied Zoe. "I don't want people fussin' about me none. And I want to continue with our missions without getting scolded from the crew."

Savannah smiled turning back to the wires. She might be able to manipulate Mal a little. Her smile turned into a wide grin. She quickly turned her attention back to the wires. She looked from the yellow wire, to the white, to the blue, and finally to the black.

"Now which wire was it again?" wondered Savannah.

She heard a door close and someone quickly walking past her room. Mal must have left. Savannah took the sharp knife and slowly cut the yellow wire. Suddenly the lights went out and the room was plunged into complete darkness.

"Crap," muttered Savannah under her breath. "Now what in the gorram hell color was I supposed to cut?"

It definitely was not the yellow wire. Savannah racked her brains trying to remember desperately. Black. It was definitely black! But Savannah couldn't see a darn thing. She suddenly remembered packing a flashlight in her bag. Savannah safely folded the blade and pocketed it, then attempted to walk across the room. She was halfway there (she supposed) when she tripped over something.

"What the-?" she began feeling what she had tripped over. It was the edge of the bed.

"Then my bag should be somewhere over... aha! Got it," muttered Savannah in a triumphant tone. "Now where is that flashlight?"

She must have spent a few minutes searching for it when she gave up.

"Screw it, I'll just have to wing it," she decided getting back up and slowly walked back to where the wires were.

Savannah pulled her knife out and opened it revealing the blade once more. She took the handful of wires, crossed her fingers and cut every one of them. No security system went off and -

"Yes!" cried Savannah in success. The door had opened. She quickly got out of the room, closing the door behind her with a simple push of a button.

She turned around to find a deserted hallway where she had never been before. Savannah suddenly heard voices coming down another hallway and turned the corner, and just in time too! Savannah peeked around the corner to see Mal, Wynd and Jayne walking down the opposite hallway. She turned back around the corner and breathed a sigh of relief.

"I've got to go somewhere safe, there's people crawling around all over this ship."

Savannah walked down the hallway she was in and turned a corner. She suddenly heard some more voices. One of them she remembered angrily and was certainly not one Savannah wished to hear right now. She kneeled down and hid in a dark corner. Then the doctor and Inara came into view.

"I weally don't think this cast is necessary-" Inara was saying to Simon.

"Inara, you need the cast," he said simply.

"If it wasn't for that little deviant that Mal let on board my nose would be just fine and I wouldn't have to weaw this silly cast at all," said Inara frustrated.

"That little whore," thought Savannah angrily but was sure to keep quiet. She watched as Simon and Inara walked past and turned another corner. She slowly stood up and when she was sure no one was coming she began walking again.

"I can't believe she called me a deviant," whispered Savannah hotly. Then suddenly the ship began to slow down rapidly and she had to hold on to the wall to keep from falling.

"What the hell is going on?" mumbled Savannah curiously.

Serenity was now going so slow that she was almost at a stop and then, a few seconds later, she bumped into something. Just a little bump but a bump none the less. Savannah stood still for a moment to make sure the ship wasn't moving and then she turned the corner and walked down another little corridor. She came to a room that caught her attention. She popped her head in and saw a wall full of guns, a few of which were missing.

"Jackpot," Savannah grinned.

She pulled down a very heavy and hard-core artillery gun. She also put her pocketknife down her boot and grabbed a smaller gun, latching it onto her belt.

"All set," whispered Savannah to herself and set off, making sure that no one was outside before doing so.

She walked down the corridors turning left and right too many times to count. She finally found a familiar place and decided to head to the cargo bay. About a minute later Savannah reached her destination and saw, to her great astonishment, that the doors were open and another room lay before her. Then it donned on her.

"We must have latched onto another ship," she said to herself. "That's why we slowed down and it got a little bumpy."

Savannah contemplated what to do and decided that maybe someone on this other ship could help her get off Serenity and take her to another planet. Though looking into the next room the thought of survivors quickly died out.

"It was probably just that savage Mal and his gang that destroyed this room," said Savannah to herself, though from the tone of her voice she didn't believe this one bit.

She took one step in and then another and was soon walking out of the room into another corridor listening for any sign of Mal and his crew or someone else.

--

Mal decided that they should all stick together. He didn't want anything to happen to one of them, and besides if someone were there they'd have to get through all three of them instead of taking them all out one by one. They were currently walking down a long and dark metal corridor. Each step they took sounded like a harsh bang in the silence of the ship, making each one of them cringe. At the end of the corridor should be the room the cargo they needed was stored. The atmosphere was so tense it seemed like hours before they reached the end of the hallway. In reality it was more like a minute.

When they got to the end of the corridor the door was open and hanging on its hinges like there was an attempt made to try and rip it off. Mal straightened the door and opened it the rest of the way.

Walking into the room was like walking into a disaster. Numerous bodies were lying on the floor; pools of blood underneath their heads where they had been bashed in, or seeping out of their throats, which had been cut so deep that the head was almost severed from the body. It was a gruesome sight but it didn't make any of them sick. I'm sorry to say they were all used to seeing scenes like this, especially Zoe and Mal and especially in the war... And someone had burned a pile of papers and documents, now only a large pile of ash sitting on the floor.

"Someone did this to them," said Zoe. "He's probably still in the room..." she trailed off.

Suddenly the door behind them (in which they came in) moved and clanged to the floor, finally falling off its hinges. All three jumped and quickly turned around, seeing someone standing in the doorway. They raised their guns and began shooting, the figure jumping out of the way behind the wall.

"Stop shooting! It's me! STOP SHOOTING!"

"Savannah?" called Mal lowering his gun. Zoe and Jayne did the same. Savannah peeked around the corner.

"Lao tian ye, someone was mad," she said looking at the multiple corpses lying motionless on the floor.

"What? How in the gorram hell did you get outta your room?" asked Mal angrily.

"I found a way," said Savannah calmly, emerging completely from behind the wall and walking into the room.

"Hey, those are my guns!" said Jayne with a growl.

"Yeah, I kinda needed them. Hope you don't mind," said Savannah smiling.

"I do ruttin' mind," said Jayne.

"Well I'll be sure to return them to your bunk when I'm finished," said Savannah.

"My bunk huh?" said Jayne liking the sound of this.

"Your finished now," said Mal. "You're going back to the boat," he added walking towards her.

"No I'm not!" said Savannah angrily, picking Jayne's gun up and pointing it at Mal. He slowly backed away.

"You don't wanna do that," said Mal.

"Oh I think I do," said Savannah and aimed, it seemed, at Mal's head. He ducked quickly as she suddenly raised her gun and shot once. A cry rang out and echoed throughout the room.

"What the-?" said Mal, standing back up and looking behind him.

"He was behind you and he had a knife," explained Savannah walking towards them.

There was a young man lying on the floor; he couldn't have been older than twenty. Savannah had shot him in the upper arm and the knife he had been holding was lying right next to him.

"Stop whining," said Savannah coldly. "It's only an arm wound," she added as she bent down to pick up the knife.

But the young man continued to moan out in pain and squirm on the floor. He looked severely underfed and slightly crazed. He was as tall as Jayne and was wearing only tattered pants and shoes, which had many holes in them, but had no shirt. His rib bones were clearly visible, sticking out a little, skin clinging to the bones. His dark eyes were wide and popping and when he looked at Savannah she felt afraid, though she couldn't tell you why. It was like he knew her and he was trying to bore his way into her mind. His hair was slightly long, dirty and wild going in all directions. He had the beginnings of a beard, like he hadn't shaved for at least a week.

He was lying in front of a huge crate and the words "Fragile" and "This way up" with an arrow pointing up was stamped on the box. The number twenty-three was stamped at the very top of the crate in red. There was also a small wooden slit in there, big enough for a plate to fit in. To feed someone... Savannah shivered. She thought she had a pretty good idea what had been in that box...

"Do you think they kept him in here?" asked Savannah walking up to the box.

Jayne was standing next to the young man who had suddenly stopped moving and was just lying on the floor, breathing deeply and looking around the room as though this were the first time he was seeing things properly.

Zoe walked over to the crate and started to examine it. Lying on the ground next to the crate was a series of papers stapled together that read "CONFIDENTIAL" in big black letters on the front. She ignored this and started reading.

"It seems like. We need to get this guy to the doc," said Mal bending down and examining him.

Jayne was still standing next to him but his gun was carefully pointed at his head in case he made any sudden movements. The young man was looking from Mal to Jayne with fear in his eyes.

"Couldn't... let them..." muttered the man.

Savannah walked over to him.

"What?" said Mal.

"Shh, he's trying to say something!" said Savannah kneeling beside him.

He looked up hopefully at Savannah and suddenly grabbed her arm. His grip was tight and she knew he wasn't about to let go. She gasped in surprise.

"Hey-" said Savannah and Mal got up quickly pointing his gun at the man too.

He ignored this and pulled her closer to him. Savannah looked him in the eyes. She saw the eagerness in them. She knew that he wouldn't hurt her. Slowly she leaned in.

"Couldn't... let them... take me... had to... kill... had to kill..." he whispered in her ear. "Not my fault... bad things... happen... when they take... me... bad things happen..." he said and released her arm, continuing to mutter to himself.

Mal and Jayne were looking at her slightly fearfully.

"What in the gorram hell is he talking about?" asked Jayne.

"I don't know..." trailed Savannah.

"Sir," said Zoe suddenly. "Sir, come over here. You might want to see this."

Mal and Savannah walked over to her while Jayne watched over the man, still lying on the floor and muttering to himself. When they stood in front of Zoe they saw that she had gone pale and was reading the papers labeled confidential furiously. She looked up at the captain and handed them to him.

"Read these," she said with a slight shiver in her voice.

Mal looked at them warily and then slowly took them from Zoe. He was scared of what they might say, especially since Zoe hardly ever looked as cautious and scared as she did now. Not even in battle did she look this frightened.

Mal began to read aloud so that Savannah and Jayne would know what it said.

"Test subject number twenty-eight will be transported in crate twenty three upon the ship The Delightful starting 3rd of July, for bad behavior during testing. The Delightful is to arrive in Persephone on 9th of July and test subject number twenty eight is to be picked up by a Mr. Jones, Sr."

Mal flipped to the next page.

"Test subject twenty-eight was personally selected by the government to be a part of a confidential project, a project called Project Mindset. Project Mindset is an experimental and dangerous project invented and envisioned by the greatest minds of our time, who shall remain nameless. It's greatest and most famous subject, however, goes by the name test subject number one also known as River Tam."

Savannah gasped as Mal read this in disbelief. Jayne looked up from the young man lying on the floor and stared at Mal with his mouth open. Even he understood the importance of this information and what they had just found.

"Told you you'd want to take a look at it sir," said Zoe whose voice had returned to its calm demeanor.

"Yi da tuo da bian," muttered Jayne.

"What-?" began Mal but Zoe interrupted.

"There's more sir," she said.

Mal looked down and continued to read.

"The ultimate goal of Project Mindset has always been the protection of the Alliance and it's loyal followers." Mal scowled at this. "To do this, two main scientists were hired to experiment on the human mind and to create the ultimate human weapon. This weapon should be virtually indestructible and could not be stopped by either man or machine. Test subject one was the description of this weapon to an exact, but she was later stolen from the government and another had to replace her. Test subject twenty-eight shows the same signs and abilities as test subject one had and so was chosen for the replacement of test subject one. Test subject twenty-eight was put through the same experiments as test subject one, experiments on the brain and mind were done resulting in the removal of some brain tissue-"

Suddenly a shot rang out echoing in the dark room and the paper that Mal had been reading so intensely burst into flames before the crews' eyes. Mal dropped the now charred papers to the floor before his fingers experienced the same fate. They turned to see a guard at the doorway with a knife in his gut. He smiled in triumph before collapsing to the floor with a loud thud. He was dead.

"I don't think we were supposed to read that," said Savannah slowly.

"I don't doubt it," said Mal quietly, but clearly angry.

"We should go sir," said Zoe looking at the dead man. "The sooner the better."

"Yeah," said Jayne in agreement. "This place is too gorram creepy for words."

"Okay. Help me pick up the boy Jayne, he needs to see the doctor right away," said Mal.

The young man lying on the floor was pale and almost lifeless. He had lost a lot of blood and was already underfed and skinny. He wouldn't last much longer if they didn't get him to a doctor, and quickly.

Mal and Jayne each took one of the boy's arms and hoisted him up carefully. He was still muttering intently but his voice was now so low that they couldn't hear what he was saying.

Savannah and Zoe led the way with their guns held high in front of them. Once they were out of the ship, Zoe quickly pushed the red button that closed the door to the cargo bay. Mal and Jayne went up the stairs and to the right where the infirmary was. Savannah and Zoe were right behind them. Simon was in there with River having a discussion.

Mal and Jayne walked into the room closely followed by Savannah and Zoe. Simon opened his mouth wide in shock as Mal and Jayne put the boy on the bed in front of Simon.

"He's been shot," said Mal. "He needs the bullet taken out and fast."

"Right," said Simon hurrying to get what he needed.

"Tell me when something happens," said Mal to Simon.

"I will," he said distractedly turning to the boy.

"The rest of you follow me," said Mal. "You too River, we need to get out of here. Quickly," he added.

River nodded and hurried out the door with the rest leaving Simon to work miracles. They quickly made their way to the front of the ship where Wynd was sitting in the pilot's seat, humming a tune and reading a book.

"Wynd, get us out of here and away from that sittin' boat. Go in the direction of Persephone but don't get too close to the planet," said Mal quickly.

Wynd put his book down and nodded at Mal. "Ready River?" asked Wynd politely.

"She's comin' with me," said Mal.

"Oh," said Wynd confused. "What's going on?"

"When you've found a nice secluded spot for us to hide out at come to the dining room, we're having a little chat," said Mal. He looked taller and brave at this moment, like a captain should. No one would think of messing with him right now.

"Right," said Wynd and he looked ahead into the empty space beyond.

Mal turned to Savannah. "Back to your bunk," he said sternly.

"No!" said Savannah.

Mal glowered at her. "I'm taking you and there's nothing you can do about it. Your too much trouble."

"In case you've got a short term memory I just saved your life out there!" said Savannah angrily pointing behind her. "If it wasn't for me and my trouble you'd be dead right now!"

"She's got a point sir," said Zoe.

"She's alright captain," said River.

Jayne looked at Savannah then at Mal and grunted.

"Besides, my room's kinda... without power," muttered Savannah.

"What?" said Mal his eyes widening with anger.

"Well, I had to get out somehow!" said Savannah glaring at him. "You left me in there to rot."

"You-" began Mal but at that point Serenity gave a sudden lurch and they were caught off guard. Zoe, Jayne and River held on to the wall they were standing against to keep from falling. Mal and Savannah, who were in the middle of the room, fell to the floor with a soft thud.

"Sorry about that," said Wynd. "Had to detach from the ship."

Mal gave a hateful look behind him where Wynd was and got up quickly. River held out a hand to Savannah who took it gratefully and was helped to her feet.

"Follow me," said Mal angrily and stormed out of the room.

Zoe and Jayne followed quickly behind. River and Savannah hurried out of the door to catch up to the rest. They quickly found themselves entering the dining room where Kaylee and Inara were already sitting, patiently waiting for them. The rest took a seat except Mal who stood pacing the floor in front of the door they had just entered.

The room was quiet for awhile as everyone looked expectantly at Mal who continued to walk back and forth. His brow was furrowed in deep thought. Then Wynd entered the room and sat down.

"On course to somewhere around Persephone..." he said.

"Good," said Mal still pacing.

After a few minutes of silence Inara spoke.

"What's going on Mal?" she asked.

Mal stopped pacing and looked up at her and the rest who were sitting at the table.

"We found the cargo," he said quietly.

"And?" said Kaylee.

"And it's a boy," said Zoe.

"A boy?" asked Inara. She was sure there was a mistake.

"A boy," Mal repeated for her. "He's in the infirmary right now. The good doctor's taking care of him."

"Why is a boy the cargo?" asked Wynd.

"How could this happen?" asked Kaylee horrified.

Mal recounted the story that he, Zoe, Jayne and Savannah had just experienced; how they had entered the ship and saw everything torn apart. The dead bodies they had eventually found scattered throughout the ship. And then the crate with the documents on the floor lying right next to it. He recounted to his crew what they had read before the papers burst into flames, the last action of a dying man.

"And here we are," said Mal. "The boy's injured, I'm not sure he's going to live much longer and our mystery man is going to be wanting his cargo." The room was quiet.

"Zoe," said Mal suddenly.

"Yes sir?" replied Zoe.

"Did you happen to read any further? Did it say anything else in that document?" asked Mal. He spoke in a dead serious tone.

"Not much sir," said Zoe. "It was just continuing to talk about the brain experiments they used on their test subjects. I didn't get very far in. I had to stop reading... It was too horrible to go on," she said quietly.

The others shivered a bit. This was unsettling news to say the least. Just then Simon walked in. His hands and shirt were covered in blood and his hair was stuck to his forehead with sweat. Everyone looked up at him.

"I've stopped the bleeding but he's still weak. He might not make it," announced Simon.

"Great," said Mal frustrated.

"What are we gonna do?" asked Savannah.

"We?" said Mal looking at Savannah.

"You. The crew," she said angrily.

"I don't know," said Mal sitting down in a nearby chair and began to think.

"Well, we're not giving the boy back to 'em," said Kaylee looking at Mal. "We can't cap'n, it's just not right."

Mal stared back at her. "I don't know little Kaylee. I just don't know," he said finally.

"We can't give him back when we know what they'll do to him," said Inara.

"And what do you think I should do? I promised this man that I would return his cargo. If I come back empty handed it's not only my head he'll want, it's my crew's too," snapped Mal.

"I don't know Mal, but we can't just give an innocent boy up as bait," said Inara.

"Who said anything about bait?" asked Mal.

"You'we joking. How long have I been with you on this ship?" said Inara.

"You-" began Mal.

"Okay guys, we need to work things out and not fight. No one's givin' him up yet," said Kaylee.

"Kaylee's right, we need to figure out a plan," said Simon.

Everyone suddenly became quiet again. They were each trying to think of a plan with the boy's best interest in mind, everyone except Jayne that is, but nothing came to mind. Until a little later and everyone was surprised at who came up with it.

So far River had been very silent but it wasn't that she was upset at all, though no one could tell if she was or wasn't. She had been thinking about the boy since he was brought on Serenity. When she concentrated on him she could almost feel his pain, past and present. She knew what he was going through and she knew she had to try and save him from the fate that she would have experienced if she had not been saved.

"They're going to die trying to get him from us. Be prepared to fight if you don't give him up," said River.

The crew looked up at her surprised.

"He's important to them. He's my replacement. They won't let him go so easily," she continued. "What we need to do is go back to Persephone. Take the boy with us and talk to the old man. It's all we can do."

"That's the plan. Talking to him? But he's not going to want to talk about it," said Savannah.

"It's all we can do," repeated River.

"She's right," said Zoe. "We'll end up fighting for him anyway. They want him alive and well to continue whatever it is they're doin' to him," she said.

"Okay," said Mal. "Let's get ready then."


	5. Chapter 4: The Exchange

**Chapter 4: The Exchange**

"Malcolm Reynolds. You found the cargo easily enough? And so quickly," said a callous voice.

"You mean the boy? Yes I found him," replied Mal.

The old man on the computer screen did not looked pleased.

"I trust you'll be arriving on Persephone shortly," he said agitated.

"We're almost there as we speak mystery man," replied Mal. "Or should I call you Mr. Jones Sr.?"

The man on the screen scowled.

"Good. Here's the address; I'll only say it once so pay attention. Do not go back to the old warehouse, we'll be meeting somewhere else for the exchange. 1780 Vicar Avenue," and the screen went blank.

"Well, you heard him. Let's get to Persephone," said Mal.

Just then the couple that everyone seemed to have forgotten about appeared in the room. Mal looked up shocked.

"What can I do you for?" he asked politely with a forced smile on his face.

"We just got done with a dismal lunch only to find a crazy boy in our room when we returned. He was wearing my husband's clothes!" cried the woman hysterically.

"I guess he's doing better... We'll have to see to that-" began Mal glancing at River who immediately left the room.

"Is that Persephone?" asked the husband looking at the planet in front of them.

"Well... yes it is," said Mal. "We're having some minor difficulties and we need to stop on Persephone again. We'll be going to your moon shortly though."

"Don't bother, we won't be here. We're leaving your spaceship, if you can call it that, and I'm sure you'll understand that I'm not going to pay you for a ride back to the place I just came from," said the man with his nose in the air.

"Of course. Well if that's the case have a good life and I hope we'll never meet again you snooty son of a bitch," said Mal through gritted teeth.

"How dare you! You rude man-" said the woman.

"Come dear, let's go and pack our bags. I'm surprised such a man could muster a vocabulary so late in life," said the husband and led his wife out of the room.

"For your information I have a very extensive vocabulary!" called Mal.

"Well said sir," said Zoe.

"Thank you Zoe," said Mal crossing his arms on his chest.

The crew heard the couple walking down the metal hall, their shoes banging on the floor making loud and affronted clanks until it finally faded and disappeared.

"Well. That's taken care of," said Zoe.

She turned to look at Mal who was staring at her with a strange expression on his face.

"Sir?" said Zoe.

"Am I rude?" asked Mal curiously.

"Only when the situation calls for it sir," said Zoe delicately.

"Hmm," mumbled Mal.

The ship began shaking; Serenity was entering the atmosphere of Persephone for the second time that day. Mal and Zoe quickly took their seats in the extra chairs and strapped themselves in.

A few minutes later they had landed safely without any troubles and as soon as Serenity had hit the ground the couple left the ship still mumbling about the "atrocities" they had experienced. The crew sat in the cargo bay watching the couple walk away.

"I'll give 'em atrocities," growled Jayne with his fist in the air. Jayne never did like the privilaged sort, but he loved to steal from them on occasion.

"I can't stand those entitled sorts," said Savannah wrinkling her nose.

"They'we not all bad," said Inara.

"No one asked you-" scowled Savannah.

"Let's get started," said Mal watching the couple finally disappear in the crowd. "Does River have the boy?"

"She does," replied River.

They turned around to see River standing next to a tall boy who actually looked healthy in the stolen clothes he was wearing. A bowler hat sat on top of his head, which hid his face so you couldn't tell he hadn't eaten in days. He wore a tailored pant and jacket with a white button up shirt underneath. The only thing that gave him away were his tattered shoes, which had holes in it and was stained brown. His long, deathly white toes were poking out of the shoes like bones.

"Right. We should get going," said Mal.

"Don't bring me to him please," said the man suddenly afraid. "If he gets his hands on me he'll never let go." He was clinging to River very tightly.

"It's okay sweetie, we won't give you to him," said Kaylee comfortingly.

"Can I stay here?" he asked.

"You have to come with us," said Mal.

"We'll protect you," Savannah added. "Come here, you can walk with me," smiled Savannah reaching her hand out for the boy to take.

He slowly let go of River and grabbed on to Savannah's hand. His grip was tight but it didn't hurt her and he moved closer to her.

"Ready when you are," said Savannah to Mal.

"Let's go," said Mal walking out of his boat.

Jayne and Zoe were close behind with Savannah and the young man behind them.

"It'll be okay I promise," said Savannah squeezing his hand.

The boy didn't answer but stayed quiet and stiff.

"What's your name?" asked Savannah as they walked down Persephone's streets.

The boy paused for a second. "Alvin," said the boy. "Sometimes it's hard to remember. I haven't been called by proper name in so long."

"I'm sorry," said Savannah sadly.

The boy shrugged.

"I'm Savannah. How old are you?" she asked.

"Only nineteen," whispered Alvin.

"Your so young," said Savannah.

They walked silently on for awhile following Mal, Zoe and Jayne. Someone walking by bumped into Savannah as the group turned into a busy market street. Alvin tightened his grip on Savannah's hand.

"Your wondering how this happened to me," said Alvin. "How I got involved in this at such a young age."

He looked Savannah in the eye. His eyes were hollow and sad.

"Yes, I was wondering that," she said.

"They took me when I was a kid. I was only eight. My parents thought it was a school. It was supposed to be a good school and I was getting to go for free because of my grades. It sounded like a great opportunity and we were poor people so they sent me to the school right away. It was fine at first, nothing unusual, but then, later, they started doing things to me," he said his eyes bugging from his head.

"They started... I don't know, experimenting on me. They did things to my head!" he whispered.

Savannah tried to keep her emotions under control but anger and fear were springing up in her heart.

"What kind of things?" she asked fearfully.

"I don't know... needles... they stuck needles in my head. And they cut my skull open! They did things to my brain I know it. There's a scar on my head it's proof," he said unconsciously rubbing where the scar was on top of his head. "And then, I started doing things that I'd never done before; suddenly I knew how to do them! I painted well, drew well, I used to be horrible at math and suddenly I was a brilliant mathematician. I knew how to fight too. I went from the weakest boy in my class to the strongest and I didn't know why or how," said Alvin. "They turned me into a weapon."

"We're here," said Mal.

Savannah tore her eyes from Alvin's and looked up. The street was somewhat crowded and there was only one building on this street. She looked and saw a huge white business building. It wasn't abandoned but it was currently empty, the workers had obviously gone home. The building went up too high for Savannah to count stories, but it must have been more than sixty stories, she was sure of that. The walls of the building were mostly made up of glass where the workers could look out from the huge windows and see life out on Vicar Avenue. A huge holographic window in the front of the building read: 1780 Vicar Avenue.

"This is the building?" asked Savannah.

"Should be," said Mal. "It's the right address."

Mal opened a side door and walked inside, Zoe and Jayne following behind him. Savannah began to step forward but Alvin pulled back.

"It's okay Alvin, I'll protect you," said Savannah pulling him forward.

They walked into the building and the door closed behind them with an echoing bang. The lights were all off, everyone having already abandoned the building a few hours ago. A set of stairs was in front of them with a trail leading up. Savannah looked again, not sure what was on the stairs.

"Is that – is that blood?" she asked.

"It is," said Zoe standing at the foot of the stairs.

"It's a trail. We're supposed to follow it," said Mal.

"Let's get movin'," said Jayne starting to walk up the stairs, avoiding the blood as he went. Mal and Zoe followed right behind him.

Savannah looked down and saw that FOLLOW ME was written in a pool of blood at the foot of the stairs.

"Come on, don't look at it," said Savannah pulling Alvin up the stairs.

"I've seen worse," replied Alvin but just the same he didn't look down once.

They climbed more stairs than any of them had ever climbed in their life and by the time the trail ended they were all out of breath. On the landing the blood trail ended with a single morbid arrow pointing towards a lone door. Mal opened this door and entered the room with the others following closely behind him. It was dark in the room, all the lights were out but the windows let the nightlife in with neon signs and other buildings faintly giving off light to the room.

At the opposite end of the room the old man was standing with two enormous men on either side of him. He had a nasty grin on his face and spoke as if this was a normal everyday meeting, which for him it probably was.

"I'm glad that you found us so easily," smiled Mr. Jones Sr.

"Your trail helped," said Mal.

The old man chuckled. "Like it did you?"

"I said it helped," replied Mal.

The old man's smiled disappeared.

"Well I see you've found my cargo. He looks quite nice."

"No thanks to your crew," said Mal disgusted.

"Measures have to be taken. He's a difficult subject," said Mr. Jones Sr. with a nasty grin. "Give him to me."

"Wait a second," said Mal. "We were havin' such a nice conversation, why end it now?"

"I see. I figured this was how it had to be. You see I knew once you found out what my cargo was that you would go soft on me Mr. Reynolds. I took this into account and collected some... insurance that I would get this boy back," said the old man.

He turned to the right and nodded. The crew turned their heads and saw something hanging from the ceiling. A light suddenly illuminated the image and they saw a man hanging from the ceiling, a rope tied around his neck and his gut split open with blood dripping from the wound. A bowler hat that had been slightly sitting on his head fell off and into the pile of blood below. They now knew where the blood from the stairway had come from.

"You know this man do you not?" smiled the old man.

"Badger," replied Mal. He had a grimace on his face as did Zoe and Jayne. "That's your insurance? A dead man who I did business with a few times?"

"Mr. Reynolds, please don't think of me as such a fool. I know you don't care about the fate of this man that's why he is now dead. Know this, I rarely kill without reason so logically, there must be a reason for his death. An example of things to come maybe?" said Mr. Jones Sr.

At this one of the huge men left and shortly came back with someone in his arms. When they came into the light they saw who it was to everyone's horror.

"Kaylee!" gasped Savannah.

"Let her go," said Zoe with a dangerous look on her face.

"You'll pay," growled Jayne.

"Please, calm down," said the old man putting up a wrinkled hand to silence them. "You can have your girl back and the rest of your money, just hand the boy over to me. You see Mr. Reynolds I am no fool. This is my insurance."

"How did you get her?" asked Mal silently.

"After you left my men went in your ship and retrieved her. River fought them off quite admirably but of course, we always have the upper hand. She's lucky she wasn't caught too, we wouldn't mind having her back in the project," he said.

"But-" began Mal looking at Alvin.

"He's just her replacement. There has never been any like River. She is truly unique. This boy is... not the same but close, very close. And if anything happens to him, believe me Mr. Reynolds when I say River will no longer be safe," said Mr. Jones Sr. His tone was harsh but Mal knew that he spoke the truth.

"I see," said Mal.

"Let's exchange then. The boy for Kaylee," said the old man. "Let her go," he added nodding to his two henchmen.

They let Kaylee go who was shaking uncontrollably. She began walking slowly toward the crew.

"Let him go," Mal said to Savannah.

"I can't, I promised," whispered Savannah.

"Savannah, let him go now. I won't risk Kaylee!" said Mal sternly.

"I can't Mal," said Savannah.

Mal looked madder then hell and was about to say something when -

"I'll go," said Alvin and before Savannah had time to respond he broke from her grip and was walking towards the old man.

Kaylee safely made her way to the crew and Zoe took her in hugging her then quickly pushing her behind Jayne. The boy was halfway there when he suddenly stopped and turned back to Savannah.

"What are you doing?" asked the old man. "Come here."

"I won't," said Alvin.

"Get him!" cried Mr. Jones Sr. and his two henchmen pulled out their guns and began to walk toward him.

"Now," said Mal.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne opened fire on the henchmen who quickly returned fire on them and hid behind desks. Savannah ran out into the middle of the room and grabbed Alvin.

"Come on," she said and pulled him behind a desk where Kaylee was kneeling and the others were ducking and firing.

"The doors just a few feet away," said Mal. "I want you three to make a quick run for it. Don't look back, we'll cover you. Just run and don't look back."

"Okay," said Kaylee breathlessly.

"Go!" yelled Mal and began shooting at the desk the others were hiding behind.

Kaylee, Savannah and Alvin quickly jumped from behind the desk and began sprinting towards the closed door. Time seemed to slow down and Savannah forgot to breath concentrating on getting to the door and protecting Alvin who she had promised would make it out of here alive.

"Don't shoot him! We need him!" she could hear the old man yelling but the room was dark and the only things that could be seen were the bullets whizzing through the air.

Savannah suddenly felt a pain hit her right arm and fell to the ground. Alvin was behind Kaylee who made it to the door and quickly got it open but he looked behind him and saw Savannah lying on the floor.

"Go Alvin!" said Savannah lying flat on the ground. "Just go!"

Alvin hesitated and then began to run toward Savannah.

"No, go back!" yelled Savannah.

Alvin was halfway to Savannah when a bullet hit him in the chest and he fell with a thud to the floor. A cry of agony escaped Savannah's lips and she crawled her way to Alvin's motionless body.

"Alvin, why did you come back? You didn't have to die," said Savannah.

"Entering this room was death," he replied.

Savannah listened to his shallow breathing until it became less frequent and then stopped altogether. Her heart broke at that moment and she looked up to see Mal, Zoe and Jayne shooting at the desk that the two henchmen and the old man were still hiding behind. Anger seared throughout her body and she stopped thinking. Savannah pulled her gun out of her holster and stood up. Walking across the room towards the men who had shot Alvin she opened fire. They didn't notice she was upon them until it was too late. One dead, a shot to the head and the other dead a second later, a shot through the throat. The old man cowered beneath her.

"If you kill me there will be serious repercussions-" he said.

But Savannah wasn't listening. She pointed her gun straight at his head and pulled the trigger, blood and brains exited his body and splattered on her clothes.

Mal, Zoe and Jayne ran up behind her.

"Why did you kill him?" asked Jayne. "We could have gotten somethin' out of him."

"Because he would have come after you," said Savannah. "He would have come after all of us. And he would never have talked."

"Let's go," said Mal pulling Savannah away from the dead men.

"What about Alvin?" asked Savannah.

"Leave him," said Mal directing Savannah through the door and past Alvin's lifeless body.

They exited the room and found Kaylee.

"What happened? The boy and Savannah were right behind me then..." said Kaylee quietly.

"We have to go," was all that Mal would say.

They ran down the stairs never stopping or slowing down until they made it outside on Vicar Avenue. Mal slowed down to a walk so as not to seem suspicious and they walked in silence through the streets of Persephone until they made it all the way back to Serenity.

Entering the ship they saw it a mess but immediately found River and Simon eagerly awaiting their arrival.

"Thank goodness your okay!" said Simon and threw his arms around Kaylee.

"I tried to fight them off," said River.

"I know darlin' you did good," said Mal with a weak smile.

Savannah collapsed on the floor, pale and losing blood.

"She's hurt, help me get her to the infirmary," said Simon helping Savannah up.

Jayne took her by her other arm and together they carried her to the infirmary where Simon took out the bullet and mended her arm in no time at all. All the while Savannah didn't say a word and just continued to stare off into space. Serenity was already in space leaving Persephone far behind them and on to a new destination when Mal walked into the room.

"How's she doin' doc?" asked Mal.

"She'll be fine," said Simon. "It wasn't a serious wound."

"Good. Mind if I talk to her alone for a bit?" asked Mal.

"Sure, I'm finished," said Simon and left the room.

"You did good today," said Mal when they were alone.

Silence. Savannah didn't say anything just continued to look through walls.

"I know you got close to the boy. I'm sorry he died," said Mal. "But you can't save 'em all."

"He knew he was going to die," said Savannah. "I think I did too."

They sat in silence for a few minutes, each thinking about completely different things. Finally Mal spoke up.

"You've saved me two times now. If you still want to you can stay," said Mal.

Savannah came out of her daze and looked at him curiously.

"You mean it?" said Savannah.

"Yeah I do. You bring something different to my crew. You're a great aim and your brave," said Mal. "That's worth a lot in our line of work."

"I'm not brave," said Savannah.

"Not the point," said Mal.

Savannah was speechless.

"Well I won't be askin' you again," said Mal getting ready to stand up.

"I'd like to stay," said Savannah suddenly. "And thank you."

Mal stood up and patted her on the back then left the room leaving Savannah with the first happy thought she had had in a long time. She was part of a crew again. She had a family.


	6. Epilogue

**Epilogue:**

The scene at 1780 Vicar Avenue was a gruesome one. Blood was everywhere covering the floor and walls and even the ceiling of the building. Following the trail of blood on the stairs were two men in business suits. Their hair was neat and tidy and flat on their heads, their suits were tailored and fit to a tee and their shoes had not one speck of dust on them. They silently climbed the stairs until they found what they were looking for. A door lay open, the night air seeping into the room from a broken window, eerily swinging in the breeze making a squeaking sound as it did so.

The body of a young man was sprawled out a few feet from the door. One of the men kneeled beside him and checked for a pulse, his bright blue gloves glowing in the little light that was in the room. He looked up at his partner and shook his head. Their expression went from that of indifference to calm rage in the span of a few seconds.

Suddenly a moaning filled the room and the two men could hear shuffling in the distance to the far left of them. The man stood up and joined his partner who was walking across the room toward the sound. They stopped by an overturned desk where the noise was coming from. A man was trying to move and blood was pouring out of his neck.

"Where are they?" one of the men asked.

"They got away," the bleeding man replied hoarsely.

"How disappointing," said his partner while he pulled out a metal cylinder from his coat pocket. He held it up on the edge of the desk, and pushed a button on it. It clicked open at both ends and extended a few inches.

"What is that?" asked the bleeding man, his voice full of fear, squirming on the floor.

"Redemption," replied one of the blue gloved men.

Suddenly the man on the floor began squirming more violently and blood began to leak out from his eyes, fingernails, nose and ears. His screams of agony could be heard for a few seconds until he finally went limp and was dead. The man put the metal cylinder back in his coat pocket and he and his partner walked out of the room, down the stairs and out into the streets. They easily blended in with the crowd on Vicar Avenue. The police would soon be flooding and taping off the area in a matter of hours when the workers of the building would discover the scene.


End file.
